The Best Of Both Worlds
by Raidenshred
Summary: The alternate reality story to end all alternate reality stories. Squall Leonhart is an Ex-SeeD mercenary, and rebel fighter Rinoa Heartilly leads the fight against Shin-Ra. Cetra become Sorceresses and SOLDIER becomes SeeD in this awsome new epic from th
1. Midnight Run

****

"The Best Of Both Worlds" – Introduction by the author.

This story first came about whilst I was writing Final Fantasy 8 fanfiction one night, and listening to the Final Fantasy 7 soundtrack. At the time, I was also hoping to find a way to write a story about alternate-reality Final Fantasy that would entertain as well as Tamerine's "FF7 Twisted." and Kate Lorraine's "A Mist Over Winhill", and also explore the very idea of alternate reality, which has always been one of my favourite genres.

And therein lay the problem. The mere fact that these stories are already published and hailed, they are already, in my mind anyway, the _definitive _Final Fantasy alternate reality stories. So how was I supposed to try my hand? FF7 and FF8 had already been done. FF9 was too far away, and I've never played FF5 or FF6. And so, whilst writing about the adventures of Squall & Co., I listened to the music of the Mako Reactor Bombing, Aeris' Death, Cid's Theme and the Sephiroth Choir, an idea began to form in my head.

What if I transplanted the characters from Final Fantasy 8 into the world & story of Final Fantasy 7? Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Squall and the others squared off against The Turks? Have you ever wondered who would win in a fight between Zell and Rufus? Etc etc.

It was an interesting thought, and I was hooked on it for weeks, trying to work out all the details and how things would go. Obviously, as the lead, Squall would take Cloud's place, I thought. But then I began to think more about that sort of thing. The more I thought about it, the more disgusted I became with the way people try to draw similarities between the characters. Like when FF8 was first coming out and everyone was looking at screenshots, people would blab to their friends "Well, instead of Barret there's Zell, and instead of Yuffie, there's Selphie."

Stop right there. Barret and Zell have hardly anything in common. Barret is a gigantic black man in his mid-thirties with an explosive temper and a gun on his arm. Zell is a 17-year-old white male into martial arts and hyperactivity. If you were to tell a Selphie fan about the similarity between her and Yuffie, they would look at you like you farted at a funeral. Believe me, as a Selphie fan, I know. Selphie and Yuffie are _nothing _alike. Yuffie is a vain, self-absorbed thief. Selphie is an honourable, friendly partygirl with a spunky personality. What will they say next? Vincent and Irvine are similar. Why, because they both carry guns? Last time I checked, Irvine didnt sleep in coffins, and Vincent was no ladies man.

It is this type of thing that made me want to write this story even more. Not to show the similarities between the characters, but to actually highlight the differences. Can you see Rinoa reacting to situations the same way Tifa did? Thought not.

However, whilst the characters are what this story is all about, the characters were also it's biggest stumbling block. Final Fantasy 7 has a cast that features nine playable characters, and a supporting cast of allies and enemies that must be at least 50. Final Fantasy only has six playable characters, not counting the Laguna scenarios. Eight if you count Seifer and Edea.

So how was I to make the cast of FF8 fit into the parts for FF7? The answer was not an easy decision, but it was a necessity for the story to work. Roles such as Vincent and Yuffie would have to be dropped. I could find no place for characters such as Laguna, Kiros and Ward either. That whole thing about Laguna being Squall's father would simply do nothing more than make the story too damn complicated.

So, I had to do a bit of editing to make this work. For the story to work effectively, places like Wutai and Nibelheim would have to lose a lot of significance, and characters like Laguna, Raine and Cid would have to be brushed out of the spotlight a little. However, on the plus side, characters like Quistis went up in significance. I actually think that sometimes in this story, Quistis, Zell, Irvine, and Selphie get to do a lot more with the story in this than they did in FF8! =) Another reason why I wanted to write this story was the desire to re-capture the sense of delightful curiosity I experienced when I read the Final Fantasy alternate reality stories for the first time. I was like, "Hang on, if this character is here, then what is this character doing? Ah, alright, so where's so-and-so if he never got to do such-and-such?" Get it now? This is something I wanna recapture in the story.

And so, without further delay, here it is. I hope you have just as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Just remember a few things. 

The main theme of this story is alternate realites. In Omega it was Family. Put your trust in me that it will all come together and all the differences will be explained and justified.

This is _not _an attempt to draw similarity between the characters of FF7 and FF8. This is an experiment to see how the characters of FF8 react when placed into the events, situations and circumstances of FF7.

I'm sorry if you have a particular fancy for a certain character and they don't appear. I promise I will try my very best to find a way to work everybody from FF8 in, somehow.

****

Dedication; Dedicated to Colleen "Charly" Dempsey. My shining star, my guiding light, I love you beyond words, always and forever.

Also special thanks to Chris (Squall2) for being a true best pal. Steph (Zell's Girl) for being a good friend and for introducing me and Col. Also thanks to Leanne (Raine) for creating the title logo, and for Tim (Mystical) who sold me the FF7 soundtrack that inspired this whole saga, and for creating Fantasysquare. And also a very special thanks to all the other guys and girls of Fantasysquare.com!!!

The Best Of Both Worlds

By Darren Shier

Based on the stories and characters of Hironobu Sakaguchi & Tetsuya Nomura

__

"We cannot choose what we are,

and yet, what are we, but the sum 

of our choices?" – Grant Naylor

"Which reality is in fact real?" 

– Teal'c

__

"I've got seven days to live my life,Or seven ways to die."

- David Bowie, from "Seven"

__

****

"The Rape Of The World." by Tracy Chapman;

Mother of us all  
Place of our birth  
How can we stand aside  
And watch the rape of the world?

  
This is the beginning of the end  
This is the most heinous of crimes  
This is the deadliest of sins  
The greatest violation of all time

Mother of us all  
Place of our birth  
We all are witness  
To the rape of the world

  
You've seen her stripped-mined  
You've heard of bombs  
Exploded underground  
You know the sun shines  
Hotter than ever before

Mother of us all  
place of our birth  
We all are witness  
To the rape of the world

  
Some claim to have crowned her a Queen  
With cities of concrete and steel  
But there is no glory, no honor  
In what results from the rape of the world

Mother of us all  
Place of our birth  
We all are witness  
To the rape of the world

  
She has been clear-cut  
She has been dumped on  
She has been poisoned  
And beaten up  
And we have been witness  
To the rape of the world

Mother of us all  
Place of our birth  
How can we stand aside  
And watch the rape of the world?  


If you look  
You'll see it with your own eyes  
If you listen  
You will hear her cries

If you care

You will stand and testify  
And stop the rape of the world  
Stop the rape of the world....

__

Chapter I; "Midnight Run"

__

I'll be here...

Why...?

I'll be 'waiting'...here...

For what?

I'll be waiting...for you...so...

If you come here...

You'll find me.

I promise.

Now take a look up at the stars.

Aren't they pretty? A billion blinking lights, shining millennia before you were born, and will shine long after. Have you ever looked up at those lights and stared in wonder out how many countless stars, worlds and galaxies were up there. Did you ever stop and wonder if maybe, just maybe, whilst you sat there, was there someone else out there, looking up at those blinking lights the same time you were, and just as in wonder as you? 

Right now, on another world, somebody is.....

The blonde girl stood in the alley, pausing to wrap her coat closer around her for that extra bit of warmth. The basket of flowers she carried swung as her arm moved, the basket hoop resting on her elbow. As she pulled back her hood, letting her golden locks fall free, she noticed a patch in the black cloudy sky. The pollution had parted a little tonight, making the stars beautiful.

She looked up at the blinking lights and smiled. They really were pretty. She had to get out of Midgar more.

She looked down, through the alley, then at the green espers that wafted gently on the ground near her feet. It was a Mako furnace, burning gently. The girl paid it nevermind and began to walk out of the alley, her footsteps eerily hollow and echoing down the alley walls.

She stepped out onto a busy street. Midgar was always busy, even at this time of night. A car rushed by her, followed by a motorcycle. She glanced idly at a poster for the Play, "Loveless.", featuring a load of actors she had never heard of. She looked up at the skyline of the great city, before moving on.

This is Midgar City. It's the largest city in the entire world. People come here to make their dreams come true, but then wake up to reality. It's the kind of place where anything can happen, and usually does. Usually twice in the same night. It's not so good that they named it twice, nor did anybody leave their heart there, but one thing the songs got right; It's one hell of a town.

***

A squeal of brakes and the hissing of steam signalled the arrival of train number; #08 into the Sector 8 station. The "extra passengers" quickly nodded to each other and went to it. The first two, two young males in their late-teens/early-twenties were the first to go, dropping down from the side of the train. The three Shin-Ra guards on duty noticed them instantly, blew their whistles and sprang forward into the attack.

"S-sir!" stuttered the shorter one of the two.

"Get behind me!" shouted his friend, the dark-haired one, drawing his fists. "Yeah, come on, do your worst Shin-Ra scummie." he jeered to the advancing guards.

The first guard was struck from behind and decked by the third figure to leap from the train, a girl with brown hair done in a bob. "Don't try to be brave, Zone. It's out of character." she grinned, planting a judo kick on the second guard.

"She's got you there, sir." laughed Watts.

"You're one to talk." Zone hissed.

"You ALL talk too much!!!" shouted the fourth voice, springing from the train and somersaulting through the air, planting a devastating kick on the third and final guard. He dropped to the ground, still in a fighting stance. He was about 5'5" tall, with spiky blonde hair that pointed straight up in a fringe. There was also a black tattoo on the left side of his face. He wore a red, blue and black jacket, and baggy jeans.

"Now let's GO!!!" he shouted, ushering them out of the train station. He turned back to look at the fifth member of the team, the newcomer.

"Yo, c'mon." he said. "Follow me."

The fifth one sailed down effortlessly. He had long wavy-brown hair and mostly wore black, apart from the white top and fur lining of his black jacket that made him look like a biker. He wore a chain around his neck with a lion's head, and there was also a prominent scar between his eyes.

"Time to see what you can do." grinned the blonde guy. "Hope you're as good as they say."

"....Better." said the young man, looking around for something.

"Well, don't mess up." warned the blonde guy. "This job is real life or death. A moment's hesitation could get you–"

The other boy leaped forward into the darkness and drew his weapon. A flash of silver and two screams later, and the two Shin-Ra guards that had been sneaking up on them lay dead.

"–Killed." the brown-haired boy finished, putting away his weapon.

"That's a gunblade, right? Wow, man that looks so _cool_!!!"

"...Whatever." said the brown-haired one. "Let's go."

They hurried on toward Zone, Watts and the girl, who was named Xu. They were crouched in front of the main gate of the reactor, but they had seen the scarfaced boy in action, and boy, were they impressed.

"W-wow." stuttered Watts. "You really were g-g-g-reat, sir!"

The boy gave no reply.

"Yeah, you _totally _used to be a SeeD alright. What was your name again?" asked Zone.

"Squall." came the reply.

"You guys nearly done?" asked the blonde-haired boy eventually. "We haven't got all night!"

"Just give me a minute, Zell." replied Xu, moments before the doors slowly grinded apart. "Got it!"

"Let's move!" ordered Zell as Zone, Watts and Xu ran forward.

"Ex-SeeD, huh?" asked Zell, running beside Squall as they ran into the reactor. "Name's Zell. Zell Dincht. You know, I was almost a SeeD too, but I quit when I was still a cadet. Not that it was because I couldn't handle it, y'see, which I could. It's just me and Shin-Ra, well, we had our disagreements...."

Squall didn't bother to reply, just ran on, into the Mako Reactor and across the narrow T-shaped bridge. Zone and Xu ran left as Watts ran ahead, securing the escape route. Squall and Zell took the right turn, running up the gantry toward the reactor itself.

They met up in the control room, Zell standing by as Xu and Zone deciphered the code. Squall stood patiently in the corner, arms crossed across his chest.

"This your first time in a Mako Reactor?" Zell asked him innocently, completely unaware of the reaction it would cause inside Squall.

__

Blood spraying, fire burning bodies, children screaming in fear, men screaming as they are impaled, ripped apart or set on fire, acrid black smoke filling the night as houses are burned to the ground, blood spilling on the–

"No." said Squall, blinking away the image.

"Ummmm, ok." said Zell, then turned hearing the click as the first door opened. The four of them ran forward into the first room. Xu and Zone immediately began to decipher the code for the second door. There was a short beeping noise, and Xu began to frown.

"What's wrong?" Zell asked.

"It won't work." she said, holding up the passcard they had obtained. "My personal access code won't work."

"Let's try mine." said Squall, and drew his gunblade. He thrust it forward, jamming the blade right in the gap were the double-doors met, then pulled the trigger, sending the charge through the blade, blowing the doors wide open. Without looking back, Squall holstered his weapon and set forward.

".....He's good. Ex-SeeD alright. Not every day you get somebody like that in a resistance movement like the Midgar Owls."

"Come on, what are you waiting for, let's GO!" said Zell, pulling them through the wreckage of the doors. Within seconds, they were inside the lift, heading deep into the bowels of the reactor.

"You're real good." Zell said to Squall. "We could really use someone like you in the Midgar Owls."

"Whatever." Squall dismissed.

"See, Shin-Ra are draining all the energy outta the planet with these reactors. Then when they drain out all of it, it's kaputski for all of us. We gotta do our best to stop Shin-Ra, and that means blowing up the reactors. No more reactors means no more draining, you know?"

__

Brilliant plan. Squall thought. _It obviously hasn't occurred to him that Shin-Ra will just build more reactors._

The door opened and they ran forward into the reactor. Scrambling across pipes and ladders, Zone and Xu stood guard as Squall and Zell climbed down and ran across the bridge toward the very heart of the reactor itself.

"You set the bomb, Squall." Zell ordered. "I'll keep a look-out."

Squall pulled the bomb out and looked at it. It was a rather crude reconstruction of a SeeD thermo-plasmic incendiary device, T-Class model. A bomb like this would normally blow something like a tank or a train to pieces, but all the energy in this place would no doubt amplify that explosion to the extreme. Smart.

Squall placed it on the floor and began to set it. Suddenly, his vision began to warp, become dimmer and redder, until the reactor around seemed like a painting that had been done entirely in human blood.

__

"Wretch!" Squall could hear a voice scream. _"Fool! You kan never forget the past! You kan never live like it never happened! I'm koming, Squall. We're going to destroy you, and all who would interfere with my plans...."_

Squall's vision returned to proper colour, the cackling voice in his head gone.

"Something wrong, Squall?" Zell asked, looking at him, concerned.

"....Nothing. It's nothing." Squall replied, setting the bomb for 10 minutes. "Ten minute countdown." said Squall, setting his watch to stay in sync with the bomb's timer. "Mark!" he called, pressing both switches at the same time.

"Head's up!" shouted Zell as the sirens wailed. "They're coming!.......Ummmm. _It's _coming?"

Squall turned his head and stood up. There was a thundering, stamping sound coming from the darkness the other side of the bridge. Suddenly, a mechanical roar filled the reactor, and the thundering shape of the arachnid automaton, X-ATM092 stomped forth across bridge.

It stopped there, scanning Zell and Squall, growling metallically.

"That's an X-ATM092, Squall!!" shouted Zell. "Also known as 'The Black Widow'! It doesn't ever stop until it's enemies are dead. Oh man, I don't like this one bit, Squall."

"Like it or not," said Squall, drawing his gunblade. "It's on the bridge. So the only way out, is through it."

"You're right." agreed Zell, tightening his gloves. "Let's Rock!"

Squall leapt forward, gunblade raised behind, bringing it right down on the spider's face-plate, causing a large enough dent in it's armour. Zell went to work on it's legs, pounding the forward-left one like he was possessed by the devil. He wasn't aiming wild, though. He was going for the join at it's knee, where the armour would be weakest.

Squall pulled the gunblade from the spider's face-plate, and vaulted up so the he was standing right on top of it, striking several heavy blows to some it's key systems.

The spider wailed and thrashed about, trying to throw Squall from it's back. As it turned, it hit Zell, striking him hard and sending him over the safety rail. He hung on to the bar for his life, looking down at the raw Mako glowing white far below him. Then, his grip began to slip....

Squall bounded from the top of X-ATM092 and landed gracefully, like a cat. He immediately reached over the rail and grabbed Zell, who was just about to slip. Holding him by the wrist, Squall pulled him up and over the rail to safety.

"Whew." breathed Zell. "I owe you one, man."

"Whatever." dismissed Squall, swinging his gunblade around in the air. "Get ready to run."

Before Zell could reply, Squall raised his gunblade high in the air, where it began to emit a charged stream of energy down the blade. Squall ran forward, pointing it right at X-ATM092. Squall swung the blade right at it, striking a powerful blow, then another, and another, and another! He kept swinging and pulling the trigger upon impact, charging the blade and turning the metallic spider into so much scrap metal.

X-ATM092 growled and fell silent as it's motors wound down.

"Wow, man." exclaimed Zell. "That was incredible. What do you call that?"

"...Renzokuken." replied Squall.

"Oh yeah. Mine's called Duel." said Zell. "Maybe I'll show it to you sometime."

"Whatever. This machine has self-repair technology. Let's get out of here."

Zell nodded and they ran forward across the bridge, bounding over the wreckage that had already begun to fix itself. As they reached the ladder, Squall checked his watch.

00:03:38

"Shit!" exclaimed Zell. "That fight cost us bucko overtime. Let's make like shepherds and get the flock out of here!"

"Indeed." said Squall, rushing up the ladder behind him.

"We got three minutes!" Zell shouted over to Xu and Zone. "We gotta get out of here!"

They nodded and made for the lift, holding the doors open for Squall and Zell. Scrambling across the pipes and ladders, they stopped and turned when they heard a metallic roar.

"He's baaa-aaack." muttered Zell, looking at the reassembled X-ATM092 far below.

"Don't waste time! Run!" ordered Squall.

"What's the problem?" Zell asked as he ran beside Squall. "Not like it can get up......"

The cybernetic beast roared, then lowered it's front legs, raising it's back one's so that it's abdomen was pointed upwards. It shout out a high-tension cable, embedding it in the roof, and began to raise itself by it's 'webbing'.

"Let's book!" shouted Zell, charging into the lift. Squall checked his watch as the doors closed.

00:02:45

Zone slammed his fist down on the button and the lift began to elevate out of the reactor, slowly at first, but picking up. Meanwhile, X-ATM092 had completed it's ascent, and had swung up and over towards the outer doors of the lift shaft. It crushed them like tin foil and began to pull itself up the shaft after the lift, slamming it's massive legs into the shaft walls and pulling itself rapidly up that way.

"Holy crap!" shouted Zell. "Man, it can't eat _nothing_!"

00:01:26

The lift doors juttered open upon reaching the control room, and the foursome burst out immediately, running through the control room for safety. Xu heard the awesome crash behind her and turned to see the metal monster crushing the lift like aluminium. She turned to fast however, twisting her ankle and falling onto her back, yelling out in pain. Squall skidded to a stop and dashed back to her.

"My leg!" she gasped. "I think I twisted my ankle! You'll have to leave me behind."

Squall and Xu both looked at the shaft when they heard the cybernetic scream. X-ATM092 was tearing the lift to shreds, and now it's face-plate was visible. The evil laser-red eyes scanned them, locking on target with it's prey.

Squall didn't say any words and hoisted Xu up in his arms, holding her up on his back. His pace became slower with her weight on him, but he still ran. As he sped out of the control room, carrying Xu, he looked at his watch and tried to quicken his pace.

00:00:26

He ran out of the control room, hearing X-ATM092 pull free of the lift shaft and barging after them.

Zell was at the centre of the T-Shaped bridge, waiting and concerned. As soon as he saw Squall he shouted at him to move him and moved his arm in a swooping gesture.

00:00:09

"RUN!!!" ordered Squall. Xu looked behind them. X-ATM092 had cleared the control room and was stomping across the bridge behind them.

00:00:07

Squall saw Zone and Zell jump through the security door Watts was holding open. "Hurry Sir!" Watts screamed.

00:00:05

Squall rounded the T-section of the bridge, running like a hound bursting from hell. Xu screamed right in his ear as X-Atm092 bore down upon them.

00:00:04

Zell's world became slow motion. His hand was resting over the hydraulic seal for the security door. If it wasn't closed before the bomb went, they would all die.

00:00:03

Squall felt the world slow down too. He was running faster than he thought humanly possible, but each thud of his combat boots hitting the iron grille of the bridge felt ice-ages apart. He couldn't hear anything apart from his breath. He could not her the stomps and screams of the automaton abomination that was hunting him down. He could not hear Xu's terrified screams. He could not hear Zone and Watts shouting. All he could hear was his breathing. He had to be panting like mad, but to his own ears it was slow an steady, like the tide coming in and going out.

00:00:02

Bootstep followed Bootstep. Squall clenched his teeth, putting every last ounce of strength in, the sweat on his forehead blinding him. "Now!" he shouted to Zell. Zell drew back his fist and slammed it down on the button, the hydraulic seal whooshing into the action. Squall leapt forward, through the sealing hatch and into the arms of safety.

00:00:01

X-ATM092 screamed from the other side of the door.

00:00:00 Beep!

The bomb blew right in the heart of the reactor, the explosion tearing through it in the blink of an eye. The entire reactor went supernova, exploding in a deafening boom that ripped through the night. The explosion engulfed the entire reactor, along with the bridge, taking X-ATM092 with it. In the safety of the tunnel, Squall and the Midgar Owls heard the beast scream as it was consumed by the explosive flames, then fell silent...

***

"Hang on." came a voice from somewhere in the darkness. Probably Watts.

There were two bright flashes, and finally the cigarette lighter lit, illuminating the tunnel they were in, which had suffered severe shockwave damage.

"Well, that ougtha keep the planet going a little longer, eh chaps?" said Zone. Nobody replied.

"Wow." said Zell, wiping his forehead and looking at Squall. "For a moment there, I thought your goose was literally cooked."

Squall nodded and looked at Xu. She was looking at him too.

"Oh I'm fine, Zell. Thanks for asking." she deadpanned.

"What happened?" Zell asked.

"She twisted her ankle. She'll need medical attention and a few days off her feet." said Squall, not looking at anything in particular.

Zone and Watts exchanged glances. 

Zone was thinking, curious as to Squall's origins. _This guy has mastered Stealth, has extensive knowledge of SeeD & Shin-Ra weapons, explosives, munitions, vehicles & equipment, knows hand-to-hand combat inside out, carries a strange weapon that looks impossible to handle, has medical training (I mean, he knew Xu's leg was twisted by merely glancing at it), and look at how strong he is! He was able to carry Xu like she was rucksack and run at the same time. And how in the hell could anybody run that fast when carrying another person? Gawd, think of the _training _this guy must have gone through!_

"Right." agreed Zell, his features not admitting that he was just as impressed as Zone and Watts were. "So let's get out of here. You two carry Xu and get her to the Sector 7 train. I'll go make a phone call to our base."

They walked out of the tunnel, ignoring the wreckage and bomb damage all around them. Zone, Watts and Xu went left, towards the train station. Zell stopped and began to think, trying to remember where the public phones were. He clicked his fingers and remembered, then walked up the cobblestone alley to his left.

"Wait." Squall said, making him stop. "I thought we agreed a price for this mission."

"Hey, no problem, Squall." said Zell, waving his hands about. "I'm trustworthy and good for it. I just gotta go make a phone call, okay? The train for Sector 7 leaves in about 10 minutes, so be sure to catch it, okay?"

"Whatever." dismissed Squall, walking away down the alley to the right.

He emerged on what had been a busy street, but now it was just busy as people scrambled around, running to and fro, and trying to get a grip on the bomb damage. Several vehicles were overturned, and there was some degree of rubble, but their only seemed to be few real injuries and no fatalities.

A trio of youths dashed past him, disrupting his balance somewhat, but he recovered and watched them run on, an annoyed look on his face. They ran further down the street, knocking over a woman carrying a basket of flowers, wearing a cape and hood. As she fell, she dropped the basket and her hood fell back, revealing a pretty face with glasses and capped off by golden blonde hair.

She sat herself back up and looked down the street, and saw the three youths being stopped by a troupe of Shin-Ra soldiers. She heard a pair of heavy boots step up next to her.

She looked and saw the young man standing next to her. He bent down and picked up the basket of flowers, then handed it to her. He couldn't have been 18 at best, around her age. He was dressed almost entirely in black, aside from his T-shirt and the fur collar of his jacket. He had light-brown wavy hair and ocean-blue eyes, with a prominent scar between them. His expression was completely emotionless.

She took the flower-basket from him, and noticed his hand was still outstretched, palm-open. She took his hand and let him help her up. When she was up, he drew his hand away instantly.

"Thank you." she said. He gave no reply. He was looking at the soldiers walking down the street.

__

They're after me. thought Squall. _Won't let her get dragged in simply because I played good Samaritan._

Great, they're looking for me. thought the girl. _Can't let this guy get mixed up in this just because he was doing a good deed for the day._

"I have to go." they both said simultaneously, and walked away in opposite directions.

Squall walked across the street toward the alley, wondering why he had helped the girl. It was something about her that felt familiar to him, somehow, but there was no way he could recall her face, no matter how hard he tried. He drew a blank, never recalling having ever known anyone with blonde hair that well......except Seifer.

Squall's face turned to a grimace at the mere thought of that bastard's name and walked on, the blonde girl already forgotten.

She walked away, her head under the hood once more. Who was that boy? Had she known him from somewhere before? Try as she might, she could not place his face from anywhere in her past. Maybe she had just known somebody that looked like him, or reminded her of somebody else somehow. Her head had absolutely no recollection of anyone like that in her past, but her gut told her he was familiar somehow. She walked on faster, putting as much distance between her and the Shin-Ra.

***

"Yeah, it went down with a blast, no pun intended." said Zell to the person on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, he was unbelievable!" Zell went on. "I'm tellin' ya, you _gotta _meet this guy. What? Yeah, okay, yeah. Sure, why not? You know I like a party just as much as the next man. Well, heh, maybe a little more, especially if next man is Squall, heh heh. What? Yeah, I'll show him to the hideout tonight. See you soon. Wait, there he is now. Gotta go, bye!"

Zell let down the receiver and ran over to Squall, who looked royally pissed over something bad.

"Hey, Squall." said Zell, tapping him on the shoulder. Squall spun around on the spot and grabbed him by the throat, pushing him against the wall and drawing back his fist.

__

"Hey, Squall." Turn, blonde hair...blonde hair....Seifer!! MOTHERFUCKER!!!!

"Ack!" choked Zell. "Squall, it's me, it's Zell!! What the hell is wrong with you?!?!"

The delusion of Seifer dissolved, and Squall realised he was actually holding Zell. He let him go and stepped back without a word of apology

"What the heck was that?!?" Zell exclaimed.

"I....thought you were....someone else." replied Squall, looking away.

"Well, Jeez, I'm glad I'm not them, whoever they are. Hey, Squall. It's okay. I know you didn't mean it. No hard feelings, right?"

Squall looked at him. "Sure." he replied, humouring him.

It was then that they heard a metallic scream, followed by human shouts and heavy stomping.

"No way...." moaned Zell, turning around.

"It can't be..." said Squall, mystified.

"Son of a _bitch_!" shouted Zell as the burnt and blackened damaged form of X-ATM092 stomped down the street toward them.

"Run!" shouted Zell, but Squall was already dashing through the streets toward him. Zell took off, only a few feet behind him. The hulking damaged machine kept going, not ever going to stop until it's target's were destroyed. It's self-repair function was out-of-action, but it had managed to barely withstand the explosion. It had survived the T-bridge's collapse by attaching itself to the wall, and had now continued with it's mission, terminating the resistance fighters.

Squall rounded a corner and skidded to a stop. He and Zell looked in horror as the Sector 7 train began to pull out of the station, sealing their fate.

"Come on!" shouted Zell, charging down another street. "We only have one chance!"

Squall looked back at X-ATM092, rapidly gaining ground. He turned and ran after Zell, giving it all he had left.

Zell rocketed around the final corner and ran up to the bridge that spanned above the railroad tracks. He looked back and saw Squall running after him, and behind hum, the murderous machine. Zell fumbled in his pockets and found exactly what he was looking for, taking all his lucky stars at once.

It was a bomb, a spare for the one they had used to set off the massive explosion in the reactor. Without the reactor, this one only had capacity to bring down a tank or a train....or an X-ATM092.

Zell leapt from the bridge down onto the roof of the train, ripping the timer from the bomb as he did so. Upon landing on the roof, he began to run backwards, to try and stay near Squall, who was running for all he had in the world.

Just as the last car sped under the bridge, Squall jumped, his hands out in front of him. If he missed this it was all over...

Just as Squall's fingertips caught the edge of the train's roof, Zell set the bomb down like a football and pointed at X-ATM092. "This one's for the game!" he joked coldly and booted it.

It sailed through the air, over Squalls head and right towards X-ATM092, also leaping through the air toward the train. The spider and the bomb met in mid-air and exploded into pieces and flame, wreckage raining down upon the track.

"It's Good!" shouted Zell, both his arms right up in the air. He cackled and began to dance like a footballer after scoring the winning touchdown on SuperBowl Sunday.

Squall pulled himself up, squatting on the roof and stared at him.

"Hey, it's okay, Squall." said Zell, ceasing his dance but still grinning. "You can admit that you're impressed."

"....Whatever." sighed Squall and rolled his eyes.

Zell smiled, then ducked as the train entered the tunnel, and onward to Sector 7...

* * * * * * * *


	2. Lions & Angels, Roses & Wine

Chapter II; "Lions And Angels, Roses And Wine"

Zone and Watts sat with Xu spread out on the train seat between them.

"Squall and Zell didn't make it...." said Zone slowly.

"You think.....mebbe they got picked up by the Shin-Ra sir?" Watt's asked worried.

"No way!" defied Zone. "Squall is way too fast for them. And Zell is no pushover either."

"Guys...." said Xu. "Does anything about Squall strike you as odd?"

Zone stood up and looked out the window at the tunnel walls. "I've heard stuff about the extensive training SeeDs have to go through. Zell told us he joined Shin-Ra's training programme when he was 10 years old, then quit when he was 16. Now, don't get me wrong, here. Before I met Squall I would have said that Zell is the best warrior I knew, but even Zell doesn't look like he's had _half _as much training as Squall."

"Yeah." agreed Watts. "And hey, did you get a look at that weapon of his? Ain't it freaky?"

"You mean the gunblade?" replied Zone. "Yeah, I never knew a weapon like that existed."

"I have." stated Xu. "Once, when I was hacking into the Shin-Ra mainframe, I managed to find their weapons research and development plans. There were blueprints and technical schematics for weapons called gunblades. They're a sort of gun and sword mixed together. When it's not firing, it works like a basic sword. But it comes with ammunition, these things that look like bullets. When you press the trigger, it sends a charge into the blade that causes an explosive shock. You saw how he blew open those doors with it."

Zone and Watts nodded and looked around.

"H-hey...." began Watts. "Do you think Squall is gonna join with us Midgar Owls full-time?"

"I dunno." replied Zone. "He's seems like he doesn't give a crap about anything, least of all our movement."

"Man, that's sad. Hey, maybe we can convince him, huh?"

"Good luck." said Xu, and lay back.

After a few minutes, Watts looked up after hearing a strange beating sound coming from the roof. He and zone exchanged glances and shrugged shoulders. Suddenly, the emergency door at the back of the car slid open and Zell's upside-down head appeared through the doorway.

"Is this the dining car? I heard they were having a special on hotdogs." he joked, before a shove from Squall told him to get a move on. Zell flipped himself into the train, Squall following right behind him.

"Well," said Zell. "We all made it after all."

"Yeah." agreed Xu.

"Great!" yelled Watts.

"Super! Job well done!" stated Zone.

"........" Squall said nothing and moved to take his own seat, that bit distant from the others.

The train rushed out of the tunnel and began to spiral down the main support structure towards Sector 7.

"Hey, look at that." said Zell. "We're out of the tunnel. You can see the city now."

Everyone except Squall turned to look out the windows and down at the slums. They were a testament to the will to survive of the people who lived here. Forming their houses from the scraps of metal thrown down by those fortunate enough to live up on the plate. The people were indeed truly oppressed. Some had been forced to live here simply because they didn't have enough money. Others were forced to live here because they had merely been born to those with not enough money. Nobody lives in the slums by choice. Nobody chooses to be born, either. Absolutely nobody would choose to be born in the slums.

It was a sprawling, oppressive, polluted nightmare. But to the people who were looking out the train windows, it was home. Where your heart is.

Xu looked back over her shoulder at Squall. He wasn't looking out the window, and was casually reloading the bullet-charges of his gunblade. He looked up at her idly and their eyes met. He looked away.

__

Maybe that's why he doesn't care about this place. thought Xu. _To us, this is our home. Home is where the heart is. But Squall doesn't seem to have a home. Does that also mean he has nowhere for his heart to be?_

Xu limped over and sat next to him. Squall didn't look up.

"Squall....." she began. "I never thanked you for saving my life back there, at the reactor."

He gave no reply.

"I was really scared. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there for me."

Squall lifted up the gunblade and allowed the spent charges to fall out. "Forget about it." he said.

Xu sighed and looked at Zell, who shrugged his shoulders at her. The guy was as cold as ice.

Suddenly, the announcer began their arrival. 

["Sector 7 train will arrive at Sector 7 station in five minutes. The next train will be at 7.35am Midgar Standard Time. Thank you."] 

***

The train pulled into the station and immediately unloaded its cargo of passengers. Squall watched them go, a couple off to his left walking off, hand in hand. There was also another couple just getting off the train behind them. They were laughing and didn't see him, then bumped into him. They apologised and walked off together, still hugging and laughing.

Squall watched them go. Some people say that falling in love is easy. As Squall watched them go, he watched in puzzlement. For him, it was the hardest thing in the world.

"Yo, Squall!" he heard Zell's voice. "Any time you feel like joining us would be nice."

Squall turned and saw Zell, Xu, Zone and Watts already off the platform, looking at him. He stepped over to them without a word.

"Right, well." began Zell. "The news reports about our work should be coming in soon. Make no mistake people, this stunt of ours has really put the Midgar Owls on the map. They'll be looking out for us in particular, but that should give other groups like the Sector 4 Raiders and the Mako Hawks some breathing space to do some damage of their own. We're gonna come up with a plan tonight, in the meantime take a break, relax, and try to enjoy the festival."

"Festival?" echoed Squall, then he heard the band music for the first time

"Duh! Of course." panned Zell. "It's Winter Solstice. Okay, sure we get no snow in the slums, but we still give out presents, eat, drink, and have a good time. Relax, Squall. Enjoy yourself."

Squall looked at him like that was an order he wasn't happy with.

"Catch you later, Squall!" called Xu as she was helped away by Zone and Watts.

"Try to enjoy yourself, sir!"

"That's good advice." said Zell. "Okay, Squall. I gotta go look for someone. Catch you later."

Zell dashed off into Sector 7, leaving Squall there, high and dry. He sighed and slowly walked over to where the music was coming from.

***

The music was loud and pompous, coming from the band on top of the makeshift stage. There was no vocalist, just a drummer, a violinist, and several others with instruments such as the sax and the trombone.

Couples danced around, lost in the music, the merriment and each other's arms.

There were also several tables with all manners of food and drink laid out on them. Eager to get away from the dance floor, Squall decided to have something to eat. He stood in front of the table, as a large man to his left was also wondering what to have.

"Merry Solstice!" yelled the man. Squall backed away before he tried hugging him or anything.

"Have a beer on me, buddy." he said, holding out a bottle.

"I can't drink alcohol." stated Squall, putting the bottle down.

"Heh, you don't know what you're missing, buddy."

Squall sighed, picked up a glass of mineral water and turned around. He wanted out. One minute spent in a party atmosphere was 59 seconds too long, according to him. Some people were good at relaxing, but not him. Not from where he had come from. 

__

But.....Seifer and I came from the same place, and he was able to relax and enjoy parties and things like this. Perhaps I truly am the weaker one after all.....

He took a drink and walked silently over toward a pile of wrecked cars that had been stacked against each other. He idly wondered where he was to go from here. Zell and the others had promised him good money for this job. Maybe if he stayed a little while longer or for a few more missions, he'd have enough money to continue in his search for Seifer. Maybe...

Squall looked into his glass, noticing what seemed to be moonlight shining on the liquid. Moonlight that could get through the clouds was rare enough, but moonlight that could get through the clouds _and _the gaps between the Midgar plates? There was an old superstition that if you were able to see moonlight in the Midgar slums, something incredibly special was about to happen.

Squall raised his head back and drank. What nonsense.

As he looked up, he found himself looking through a gap in the plates of the city above towards the sky. Sure enough, the clouds had parted, and there was the moon. It was a pretty sight, Squall had to admit. As he watched, a shooting star shot past through the sky. Make a wish.

He lowered his gaze, which rested on the dancefloor. There was a young woman standing there alone, by herself. She too had seen the shooting star. They'd gazed at it together without knowing. She had dark hair, with just a few streaks of auburn, giving it a slick look. Her eyes were chestnut-brown and Japanese, and her face youthful and angelic. It suited her body, with skin like a pale marble angel. Finally, she wore a shimmering white dress, that made her look completely out of place in the slums. If an angel had indeed come down from Heaven tonight, she had picked one hell of a dump to attend a party in.

She looked over at him and smiled, pointing her index finger up.

Squall looked at her, cocking his head to the side, not knowing what she meant. Uh-oh. What if she mistook that as a gesture for "Hey, come over here"?

Too late, she stepped lightly over to his direction.

"You're the best-looking guy here." she said, actually meaning it. "Dance with me?"

Squall turned his face away, secretly wondering just what the hell he was supposed to do.

"Let me guess." she continued, good humour flowing in her voice. "You'll only dance with someone you like? Okay then....Look into my eyes."

Squall looked up at her face as she began to swirl her finger in front of his eyes.

"You're-going-to-like me...You're-going-to-like-me..." she chanted. "Did it work?"

"...I can't dance." replied Squall finally.

"You'll be fine. Come on." said the girl, grabbing him by the wrist. "I'm looking for someone. I can't be on the dance floor alone."

Squall had no time to react as she pulled him right from where he was standing and dragged him onto the dance floor, pulling him along behind her through the dancers. She released her grip, only to spin around, take his hands and place them into the correct positions. Her pace not slowly, she began to time her body to the music and lead him.

Before Squall could warn her that his feet were moving too slowly and hers too fast, he bumped straight into her, one of his heavy combat boots narrowly missing her dainty toes. She didn't seem to mind, and just continued dancing, grabbing his hands and placing them on her again.

They began again. All went smoothly, well, for a few seconds anyway. She spun away from Squall, who didn't have time to see this move coming before he was pulled after her and collided with her again.

__

Hell with this. thought Squall, embarrassed. As he moved to walk away, the girl grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. She smiled at him again, actually enjoying what fools they were making of themselves. And then a strange rush came over Squall – He actually didn't mind, for some reason.

As they tried again, Squall felt himself finally getting the hang of it. The music and their bodies seemed to be moving together, right in harmony. They foolishly allowed themselves to lose themselves in the dance, and ended up bumping right smack into another couple. It was Zone, dancing with some blonde girl.

Squalls face was a mask of apology, but the dark-haired girl just went and stuck her tongue out at Zone. Zone winked and danced off, looking like he had been privy to a private joke. With Squall? Or the girl?

Squall looked at her again, and she smiled right at him, looking into his eyes.

The music built up, and they began again, this time really losing themselves in the dance and the moment. Squall felt nothing else in the whole world but the music and the girl who had drawn some strange enchantment over him. They danced, they spun, they stepped and waltzed, before the music came to a crescendo. They finished perfectly, spinning away from each other and drawing right up close to one another, their bodies almost pressed together. She looked at him and smiled. As he almost did too, the lights illuminating the sector dimmed and the fireworks went up, set to go off a few seconds early so as not to hit the plates above.

They both looked up at the colors bursting in the sky. The girl smiled, and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Squall felt the urge to smile too. He relaxed and allowed a slight smile of contentment to creep from the corner of his mouth. In such a long time, it felt good to feel peace.....

The girl smiled at him, then something caught her eye. Someone who had been looking for her.

Squall looked at her. She winked at him and smiled, offering it as a "So sorry, gotta run." apology.

She left him standing there and walked briskly across the dance-floor. She turned a corner and walked out of the party........and out of his life.

Squall instantly knew it had been stupid to pretend that he was one of these people. Parties were _not _his forte. They were all social creatures, and he was a lone wolf. He reminded himself of that, that he was meant to go through this life alone. He had no business believing that could ever change.

Squall left in a hurry, walking away in the opposite direction the girl had left in.

***

He crouched on the roof of the Sector 7 hotel, looking down at the partygoers below him.

__

Yes, this is where you belong said a voice Squall recognized as his self-loathing. _This is where you are supposed be. On the outside, looking in. You can't ever be like one of them. Remember, Squall Leonhart, you are only like them in exterior. You are a SeeD, a soldier. Moreover, you are solitary creature. You were never meant to be loved, or to feel love. That was meant for other people. Sociable people. You're not one of them, and you never will be. Get over it._

Squall raised his eyes away from them, remembering the moon, the shooting star, and the girl.

"I _can_ be like them." he said aloud. "But.......do I _want _to?.........."

He could hear Zell walking up behind him.

"Heh, I think I'll announce myself this time." said Zell. "How are you doing Squall?"

Squall looked back at him, then turned away.

"Wow, you could almost give the impression that the lost art of conversation ain't exactly your strong point."

Squall still gave no answer, the lone wolf looking at the social animals.

"You know, you really are a great soldier, Squall. All the stuff you done at the reactor was perfect."

"....Thanks."

"Hey, come on. I'm gonna introduce you to the team."

"I already met everyone." said Squall, meaning; "I'm staying here. Leave me alone."

"Not everyone." said Zell, grinning. "Come on, we're holding a meeting."

Deciding that there was no way Zell was going to leave him be, Squall got up and reluctantly followed him down off the roof and out of the hotel. Zell led him towards a bar located just across the way from the hotel. A flickering neon sign gave away the title of the bar; 

**__**

"Roses And Wine"

Zell pushed open the swing doors, Squall following behind him. He glanced around. It was shoddy and as run-down as the rest of the slums, but whoever ran the place had done their utmost best to make it as cozy as possible. Zone, Watts and Xu were here, sitting at a table just to the left of the door. They were drinking and playing cards, Xu resting with her foot on the table.

"Man, I just don't get this game Zell invented." Zone complained. "It's starting to get too complicated to remember. What did he call it again?"

"Triple Triad, sir."

"More like Confusion By Numbers."

Looking around, Squall made out a slightly out of place pinball machine the far corner, gathered around it were pictures of beautiful scenery from all around the world. Flower baskets hung from the ceiling. Flowers didn't grow in the slums. The owner must have bought them from somewhere...

There was a fridge to the back, which Zell was now removing a root beer from. "Hey, pull up a chair and sit yourself down." he suggested. Squall remained standing. He noticed the gigantic widescreen TV just behind the bar, which was badly tuned to a news report. Squall's trained ears easily filtered out the distortion of the TV and the noise of the others talking;

__

"......today the No.7 Reactor was bombed. The terrorist group known as The Midgar Owls has claimed responsibility for the bombing. It is expected that the Midgar Owls and other Anti Shin-Ra terrorist groups will continue their reign of terror. But citizens of Midgar.... there is no need to fear. Shin-Ra have immediately mobilized SeeD to protect our citizenry against this senseless violence. Thank you and good night."

Yeah right thought Squall. He'd grin if the truth weren't so tragic. _SeeD have much bigger fish to fry._

"Hey Rinoa!" said Zell, breaking Squall's concentration. "Come on, I want you to meet someone."

A girl stood up from behind the bar whom Squall recognized instantly. Her chestnut-brown eyes also shone with the glimmer of recognition. She walked out from behind the bar, smiling the whole time. She had changed out of the white dress and was now wearing a light blue shawl with angelwings decorated on the back. She also wore a darker-blue skirt, and a black body suit under it all. Other than that were light-blue warmers on her arms, the same color as her shawl, a pair of light combat boots, a little similar to his, and a necklace with a ring on the end of it. There was also a black armband on her left arm. Odd. Wasn't such a thing a symbol of mourning?

She smiled she as approached him, as if sharing in a private joke.

"Rinoa Heartilly, Squall Leonhart." introduced Zell. "Squall Leonhart, Rinoa Heartilly."

Zell was about to tell her not to try to shake his hand, when she darted her hand forward and shook his.

"Delighted!" she giggled.

"....Likewise." replied Squall, oddly not letting go off her hand until she did.

"Rinoa helped form the Midgar Owls." Zell explained. "It was her who convinced me to use the skills I learned as a SeeD cadet against Shin-Ra in the first place. Zone, Watts and Xu joined soon after."

"And now we got a new member." said Rinoa, still smiling.

__

Let's not jump the gun thought Squall.

"Come on, people." said Zell. "We're starting the meeting."

Zell walked over the pinball machine in the corner and flicked the hidden switch in the side. The pinball machine and the section of the floor he was standing on began to slide down, revealing a hidden basement. Xu, Zone and Watts took it in turns to follow. Squall was about to go when Rinoa grabbed his hand for the third time that night.

"You cut quite a rug." she stated. "Ex-SeeD, huh?"

"So do you." replied Squall. "Resistance Fighter, huh?"

"Okay, you win, I'll call it quits." she giggled. "Hey, how about a drink?" she offered, walking back behind the bar. "I got some wine here I was saving for a special occasion."

"....What's the occasion?" Squall wondered aloud.

"Well, apart from Winter Solstice, it just seems to have this magical feeling in the air tonight. I had this funny feeling when I woke this morning that this night would be special. Well, here it is and here I am, and I don't know why, but I still got that magical feeling, you know?"

Squall didn't know, and just sat down at the bar.

"Can I pour you a glass?" she offered, uncorking a bottle of red wine.

"....I can't drink alcohol." Squall explained as a decline.

"Hey, you're not in SeeD anymore." Rinoa reminded him. "You can relax."

"No, you don't understand." explained Squall, "I _can't _drink alcohol. In my training, my metabolism was conditioned so that my body would be immune to judgement-impairing chemicals such as alcohol, and that I was also made immune to most poisons."

Rinoa looked right at him. Squall had said that like they weren't his words, like he'd memorized them from a book he had read. "Well...." she replied. "You can drink this stuff, it's okay. It's got hardly any alcohol in it anyway. It's my mother's recipe. She called it 'Rose Wine'. It's only for sale in this bar alone. But for you and me, this ones on the house."

She poured it into a glass and set it in front of him. Yes, it was the color of a red rose, hence the name. It was also very pretty the way the light shone through the contours in the glass, illuminating it that bit more.

"...Your mother is winemaker?" Squall hazarded.

"Nope." answered Rinoa, pride filling her voice. Squall looked up to where Rinoa was showing him the signed albums, posters and platinum discs that hung on the wall behind the bar. Of course. Squall should have guessed it the first time from his two hints; Rinoa's last name and the resemblance. It was Julia Heartilly, the famous singer. Squall remembered that the first time he had ever heard music, it had been from Julia Heartilly. So, Rinoa was the daughter of a celebrity. It certainly begs the question....

"Why am I down in the slums when I'm the daughter of a world-famous singer?" Rinoa asked for him. "I'm not like other people. I'm down here by choice. When I was younger, I saw all the suffering, hardship and injustice that goes on down here, and I couldn't do anything about it. But now I'm all grown up, and I'm strong enough to help do something about it now. My mother respected my decision, saying I was entitled to lead my own life, and that I was helping people, well, that was something special. Not everybody wants to help these days. Some people just hole themselves up in their own private world and don't want anyone else's burden. But me, I chose to reach out and help others. My mother said I was very special for that. She said I had too much love for one heart to hold."

"Where's your mother now?"

Rinoa cast her eyes upward. "On the plate, still living in the family mansion. She has staff and lots of friends, so she's never lonely. But, she does miss me much. I guess she must worry about me a lot too. I still make a trip up to the plate every now and then to see her.....How's the wine?"

Squall remembered the glass, still resting on the counter in front of him. Without a word, he took it and raised it to his lips, downing the whole thing in one long extended gulp.

"It's.....nice." he said, unsure of how to pay a compliment. He'd never done it before.

Rinoa smiled at him. "Better get to that meeting." she said, walking over to the pinball machine....

***

The 'meeting' was not exactly what Squall had expected. Zone and Watts were squatting next to a table, drawing plans and scenarios. As soon as Rinoa stepped out from behind Squall and off the lift, she squatted down and joined them. Xu was sitting next to a computer, resting her leg and seeing what information she could prise from the remote hack of the Shin-Ra mainframe. Apart from Squall, Zell was the only one standing, well, throwing punches and kicks at his shadow.

"We done good work tonight people." said Zone. "I think a lot of it is down to our newest member, Squall."

Squall leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. He didn't remember signing anything to join the team. He was just here until he could get enough money to start looking for Seifer again. Until then, he would do whatever missions they gave him. After that, they wouldn't see him for the dust of his boots on the horizon.....

"The next mission may be to blow up the Sector 5 Reactor!" announced Watts "Squall, you're great! With you on our team, we can't fail. Don't you ever get nervous? Or are you like, impervious to feelings? Naw, that couldn't be it..."

Squall didn't listen to him. All he gathered was the Sector 5 Reactor bit.

"Yo, Squall." said Zell. "You listening?"

"Yeah, I heard." Squall replied from his dark corner.

"Hey, Squall. I wanna ask you something." continued Zell. "Did you see anyone from SeeD in the reactor or on the streets tonight?"

"No."

"Sure?"

"Positive." stated Squall. "SeeD are.........SeeD are busy with other matters."

"Really?" said Rinoa, raising her head. "Like what?"

"It's not important." said Squall, dismissing it already.

"Hey come on!" pleaded Zell. "If you know stuff about SeeD operations, we could really use that kind of Intel for our mission and stuff."

"Don't forget you're working for the Midgar Owls now." said Zone, his back to Squall. "Don't get any idea's about staying with SeeD or hanging on to Shin-Ra."

"What did you say?" demanded Squall coldly.

"Nothing." apologized Zone. "I was just–"

"Good." Squall cut him off. "Because there's no way I'm staying with SeeD or Shin-Ra. But don't get me wrong. I don't care about your resistance movement, or the Planet or whatever! I'm only here until I get enough money so that I can go and be on my way. I don't want to carry anyone's burden."

"But, you'll still fight with us, won't you, Squall?" asked Xu.

"...Don't worry about me." replied Squall. "I'll honor any contract, verbal or written. I'll fight your enemies based on your decision. That's my duty here until I leave."

"....How sad." said Rinoa from the back of the room, genuine pity in her voice. "Act on our decision? That's your duty? It must be a sad life, brought up to believe in nothing but orders. Isn't that what they do in SeeD?"

"Call it what you want." replied Squall, his tone never changing. "All I want is for you to achieve your goal using my help. I find it hard to believe that you can do it, though..."

"W-What did you say?!?!" reacted Zell. "If you have something to say, just say it!!!"

"Zell, please..." said Rinoa, trying to him to calm down. "Squall, if something is on your mind, say it. Please?"

"...Just forget it." said Squall, hoping they would.

"Come on, tell me." said Rinoa. "Please? I'm asking you. I don't want to order you. We don't work like that here."

"How serious are you...? Really...?" probed Squall. "All of you plop down on the floor to discuss strategy? On top of that, you can't make a decision without my input, right? How do you think I feel, working for such an organization?"

"I'll admit, it's not the well-organized war machine that is SeeD, Squall." replied Rinoa. "But we're not SeeDs. We're civilians. And, as much as you may not like to admit it, so are you too now."

Squall understood her feelings, but Zell was less understanding.

"You know..." he said, getting worked up and his fists flying harder. "Maybe this was all a big mistake. I thought everything would work out fine once Squall joined us. But, I guess nothings that easy. He was hired. It's not like he's one of us. He doesn't believe like we do. He said it himself. He doesn't care about nuthin'. So...Squall probably thinks this is all a game to us....Well, it's not! We're serious! So serious...it hurts!"

"I'm outta here." dismissed Squall, heading up on the lift. As he did, he glanced down and noticed Rinoa looking up at him.

***

Squall walked out of the bar and back across and up to the roof of the hotel. The party was finished by now, leaving just a few people left to clean up after the festivities. Squall sat on the roof, looking out over the desolate slums, partially cloaked by a dark mist. 

Lonely, desolate, dark.....

He heard someone step out from behind him and onto the roof. A feminine hand reached over the side, fumbling for a grip. Squall grabbed Rinoa's hand and pulled her up.

"Thanks." said Rinoa, sitting beside him.

"...You're welcome." Squall replied, then fell silent.

They looked out in the same direction, out across the wasteland of slums and scrap. Little lights of houses poked foggily out through the dark mist. It was about five minutes before either of them spoke.

"What's it like?" said Rinoa suddenly, attempting conversation. They still looked out over the slums together. "Being in SeeD, I mean. What's it like?"

Squall was silent. He knew Rinoa would like an answer, but conversation was _not _Squall's strong point. Rinoa sighed quietly and continued watching the slums.

"...Fear."

Rinoa looked at him. Squall glanced over at her. "...Fear...and discipline." he explained.

Rinoa blinked. "Even now??"

"...Always." said Squall. There it was again, Rinoa noticed. Squall saying words that didn't sound like his. Words that he had been told to say, but wasn't sure if he believed them himself. She felt pity for him. What must it have been like to be raised as a SeeD in a world of fear and discipline?

"Listen, Squall." she said. "I'm asking you. Please join us."

"...I can't. I have....things to do. Something important."

"The Planet is dying." she said. "Someone has to do something about it."

"...You were all doing fine before you hired me." Squall replied. "I don't want anyone else's problems."

"So you said. But, you sound like you got a few problems of your own."

"..........."

"You also said you would honor any contract, verbal or written." began Rinoa. "So, can I make a deal with you? A special deal, just between the two of us?"

"What do you mean?" asked Squall.

"Well, if you leave like you said you would......I would......I'd like to see you again, Squall." explained Rinoa. "So, look. If I'm ever in trouble, I want you to come and rescue me. Like a knight in shining armor rescuing a damsel in distress. Although, I don't think "damsel" is politically correct...."

"Rinoa...."

"Please, Squall. Just say you'll do this one thing for me."

Squall sighed and looked out over the slums one last time. "Alright." he said finally. "I will."

"Yay!" replied Rinoa, smiling. "Promise me!"

"....I promise."

As they looked though the plates for the last time, the shooting star flashed by again, as if sealing the contract.

"Come on." she said, standing up. "Let's get back to my bar. I managed to calm Zell down and explain your side of the story to him. He may have a short fuse, but he doesn't stay mad for long."

"Thank you." said Squall, and walked after her.

***

Upon entering the bar again, Squall saw Zell sitting on a table, waiting for him.

"Hey, Squall, man." he said. "I'm sorry. We cool?"

Squall sighed and humored him. "Yeah, we're cool. Whatever...."

"Sure thing!" beamed Zell. "Okay, I'm gonna go hit the sack. Nightie-night you two."

Zell walked away and upstairs towards the bedrooms.

"Oh yeah." said Rinoa. "That's one thing. We don't actually have enough rooms. Only rooms for Zell, Zone, Watts, Xu and myself. You'll have to sleep down in the hideout. You don't have to worry, it's quite comfortable."

"...Okay."

Rinoa giggled. "Hee hee. Unless you were thinking of trying to convince me to share my room with you."

__

Har har thought Squall sarcastically.

"Goodnight Rinoa." he said, walking over to the pinball lift.

"...Whatever." she giggled.

***

Squall lay on his back in the far corner, lying on an old mattress. She was right, it was quite comfortable. He lay there with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.

__

I wonder how long it will be until I get enough money to continue the search for Seifer. Man, it's been just over a year. There's no guarantee I'll be able to find him too. But what if I can find a way to make him come to me? What was that voice in the reactor? Was it really her? Is she coming here? Coming here to kill me? To kill everyone?

Suddenly, Squall began to hear a high-pitched whine, like the signal from a TV showing white noise. It got loader and loader, and his head began to buzz. He fell back, falling asleep instantly like he had been hit with a mallet....

* * * * * * *

~Dreamworld~

* * * * *

"Everybody!" shouted a female voice. "Try to protect the children! That's who they're after!"

It came from woman with long black hair that trailed down to her waist. She also was dressed entirely in black, and her face bore more than a passing resemblance to Rinoa, if she was in her early thirties.

She was running across a section of elevated ground. In the background were the red rocks of a valley or a canyon. People were running around her too, frantic and panicking.

"They're here for the children!" she shouted again. Parents began rushing their crying children into whatever shelter they could find.

"Adel!" she shouted out suddenly. At this, another woman who looked like her, only slightly taller than her and with crimson-red hair ran over to join her.

"They're coming up the valley, Sister." said Adel, almost out of breath. "They seem serious."

"So am i." said the dark haired woman.

"Matwyn. What's happening?" asked a voice from behind them. Adel and the Matron turned round. Two young children, about five years old stood there. A little girl with brown hair and green eyes, and a boy with slightly lighter and slightly longer hair.

"Everyone's scared." said the girl. "What's going on?"

The Matron picked the green-eyed girl up in her arms. She wrapped her arms around the Matrons neck, so that Matron could carry her on one hand.

"Edea!" cried Adel. "They're coming up towards the sanctuary! What should we do?"

"The only thing we _can_." replied Edea. Adel nodded and took her free hand.

The Shin-Ra soldiers rushed up the valley, the first platoon resting on the steps of Cosmo Canyon. They trained their weapons on the two Sorceresses, completely ignoring the fact that one of them was carrying a child.

"Hold Fire!" came a nasal voice from the bottom of the steps. Some soldiers moved to clear a path, then came the sound of footsteps up the stone pathway. Finally, there stood the infamous Hojo, and behind him, Professor Gast.

"Well, well." said Edea, coldly. "Professor Hojo. And of course, Professor Gast. Where's Odine?"

"Back at Midgar." replied Hojo. "Couldn't make it. Very busy. But, he did request the pleasure of your presence, Sisters of Hyne."

"Invitation declined." growled Adel.

"Oh well." mused Hojo. "His research on creatures like you never held any appeal to me. Well, not so far."

"Creatures?" echoed Adel.

__

Don't let him get to you. said Edea, in mind contact. _We must keep our minds and concentration linked._

Yes, Sister. replied Adel telepathically.

"We know why you're here, Hojo." said Edea. "We won't let you have the children."

Hojo looked at her for the first time, then at the green-eyed girl in her arms. He smiled with crocodile teeth. The girl turned her face away and buried it in Edea's shoulder, scared.

"Well, this really is a bit of a deadlock, is it not?" replied Hojo. "You see, the children are exactly what we need for the Generation; NeXus project. Shin-Ra would rather you handed them over to avoid bloodshed. We promise we're not going to take all the children. We are looking for particular subjects with the perfect genetic qualities for the project."

"Hojo." said Gast from behind. "Stop toying. Kill them so we can get what we came for."

"I deplore impatience, Gast." replied Hojo, not turning around. "Especially with matters of science. But still, my colleague has a point. Hand your children over for 'Genetic Interrogation.'."

Nobody flinched.

"Okay, be that as it may." resigned Hojo. "Shin-Ra soldiers! Open fire!"

There was a roar of machine-gun fire as the soldiers opened up, aiming directly at the two Sorceresses. The bullets ricocheted and sparked against thin air.

"Hold fire you idiots!" shouted Gast. "They're concentrating a shield! We couldn't hit them with a missile!"

Adel grinned, but Edea remained adamant.

"There will be no bloodshed in the sanctuary or the orphanage." she stated firmly.

"So, you'll keep your little shield up forever, will you?" growled Hojo. "Very well."

A soldier came running up the steps and whispered something to Hojo and Gast which made them smile.

"A piece of advice, Sisters of Hyne....." cackled Hojo.

"Help!" shouted a child's voice.

"You really shouldn't let children play outside the sanctuary, and with an unarmed minder too. It was almost embarrassing for my men to shoot him, but imagine my delight when they found out the children he was protecting were the very children we came for."

Adel and Edea could see where the shouts were coming from. They looked in horror, helpless as four of their children were being bound by the soldiers and forced into a prison-van. They recognized them all instantly; The quiet boy with light hair, the domineering boy with blonde hair, the blonde-haired girl, a Sorceress just like them, and the eldest child, the girl with dark hair.

"Damn you, Hojo!" hissed Adel.

"Ah, but this is not my fault, Witch. It's yours." cackled Hojo. "Oh, you can stop me, I have no doubt about that, given your incredible powers. But to stop me, you would have to take down that shield of yours, and everyone in the sanctuary would die. Perhaps you could try to stop me, but I doubt you would break your sacred oath never to harm a mortal with your powers."

The prison-van carrying the children began to drive away, and several soldiers began to withdraw, Hojo and Gast walking contentedly back to their transports.

"I'm taking a new oath, Hojo." Edea whispered angrily. "I swear, One day, I will be the last thing you ever see, and you will never harm another living being again....."

Hojo's laughter echoed across the canyon walls....

* * * * * *

~Dreamworld End~

* * * * * 

Squall bolted forward, awake in an instant, a cold sweat running across his forehead. He was in Sector 7 slums now, not that hauntingly familiar red canyon. What was that? Who were they? And worse still, why did that all seem familiar? And why did they all look like familiar faces?

Squall sat up, Hojo's laughter still fresh in his ears. But the laugh began to melt, distort, and finally become feminine. A feminine voice very familiar to him, but also made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Sis?" his voice said, quietly in the darkness. "Elle.....Ellone?"

* * * * * * * *


	3. The Mission

Chapter III; "The Mission"

"Morning, Squall! Sleep well?" chirped Rinoa.

Squall gave no reply as he stretched and cracked his knuckles. He hadn't slept well at all. He'd been up all night thinking about Edea, Adel and Ellone. So, his past was finally going to catch up with him. Well, at least this time he would be ready. The problem was, would it happen before he had a chance to make sure people like Rinoa or Zell weren't caught in the crossfire?

"What's the mission today?" he asked.

"Right down to business. Sure, we can play that." said Zell, munching down a fried egg on toasted white bread.

"You wanna at least try some breakfast first?" said Rinoa. She had just finished praying in front of her family's shrine, and walked over to behind the bat, where the frying pan was. "After all, you're now in the land of the rising sunny-side-up."

She reached the kitchen and found herself staring at Watts. He had a monster of a breakfast sandwhich in his hand. Bacon, eggs, mustard, chutney and God knows what else.

"What _is _that?" she asked.

"It's a state of the art sandwhich, ma'am."

"It's the state of the floor i'm worried about."

"Cute." replied Squall, sitting at the table, his arms crossed tight. He looked towards Rinoa's shrine. There was a picture of a man there. Squall recognised the insignia of a general, if not the face. "So what is the mission?" he asked.

"Today's mission is gonna rock!" exclaimed Zell. "We're gonna kidnap one of the Shin-Ra execs!!!."

"Why?" asked Squall. "I thought blowing up reactors was your forté."

"Well....it was...." began Zell.

"But the Shin-Ra have beefed up security at all the reactors since last night." explained Zone. "So, this time, we're going to kidnap one of the Shin-Ra executives from the very car he's riding in!"

"How?"

"We heard that there was a big time Shin-Ra exec who came down to check out the plate support system for some reason. His train, a specialised model for Shin-Ra executives only will be departing from near here shortly. Our goal is to sneak onto that train, nab the Shin-Ra scummie and hold him to ransom!"

"I've heard all about this specialised Shin-Ra train." said Squall. "It's loaded with guards in every car."

"That's the beauty of the plan, sir." stated Watts. "How we get around them, I mean. We sneak across the roof and disconnect each one of the cars from the train, until only the locomotive and the second car, the one carrying the exec, are left!"

"I have the codes." said Rinoa, laying a fried egg and waffle in front of Squall. "So, that means I'll be going on this mission. Plus, somebody has to take Xu's place, after all."

"Hey, don't mind me." said Xu from behind the bar, walking on a crutch. "I'll be fine and back in action before you know it!"

"So, it's settled." said Squall, standing up. Rinoa was about to remind him to have his breakfast, then saw that he had _already _eaten it. Wow. "Let's go."

"Hey, Squall. Wait up." said Zell. "We got something for ya."

Squall turned around to see Zell holding out a collection of tiny jewel-like spheres in his hand. They were all kinds of colours, purple, green, red and yellow. "It's Materia." said Zell. "Got a lot of strong spells here. These are for you, man."

"Thanks." said Squall. "But I don't need them."

"What do you mean you don't need them? Nobody can fight without Materia. Especially not if we get stuck on this mission. Come on, take them."

"I don't need them for magic." Squall replied, checking his gunblade.

"So just how are you supposed to use magic then?" asked Zell, becoming convinced Squall was a lunatic. "You don't–"

At this, Squall instantly raised his hand in Zell's direction and closed his eyes. Zell felt a wave of energy surge through his body. Everyone watched, fascinated, as they saw four streams of light move from Zell's body to Squall's, followed by several orbs of light, turquoise and purple in colour.

Squall took a breath and opened his eyes.

"What the hell was that?!?" Zell remarked.

"Drawing!" exclaimed Xu. "I've heard of this. Only the best of the best SeeDs were taught how to do it. They draw magic from living beings and stock it, to use in combat. I've never seen anything like it!"

"Way past cool, sir!" said Watts.

"Maybe you can show us how to do that sometime?" suggested Zone.

"...Whatever."

"Oh well, all the more Materia for us." grinned Zell, dishing out the orbs to the others.

"I don't think," said Rinoa, taking a Bolt and Cure Materia. "That I'll ever get the hang of these things. Maybe you can teach me that Draw thing sometime?"

"...Maybe." said Squall, walking towards the exit.

"Hold the fort 'til we get back." said Zell, following him.

"We'll be back before you know it." said Rinoa, the third one out.

"If your Shin-Rs scummie ain't delivered in 30 minutes you get him free." deadpanned Watts.

"Take care, ma'am." said Watts, and ran after the others.

***

They were perched on a rickety collapsed radio tower, which was bent, leaning over the tracks. The team of five squatted upon the beams, waiting for the train to rush under them.

"Yo, the train will be along any second." said Zell. "Look alive."

"How are you going to uncouple the cars from a moving train?" asked Squall, earnestly. 

"Umm...we can't uncouple the cars directly." replied Rinoa. 

"Instead, we'll have to tamper with the control system that manages the coupling." explained Zone. "If we temporarily disable the circuit for the connection, the car will uncouple automatically. To disable it, we have to enter several codes."

"...And we have the codes. Rinoa has them, sir!" Watts contributed. 

"I'll be in charge of relaying the codes to you, Squall. You'll slide down on the side of the train using a cable and enter the codes into the system. Now I need you to listen carefully. Each code is made up of numbers between 1-4 and has 4 digits: 2341 is an example. But the keypad won't have numbers. Instead, it'll have four buttons. Cross Triangle Circle and Square. For instance, if I relay the code 3124, you'll push Square, Circle, Cross, Triangle, in that order. You'll have to be quick and precise. You'll have about 5 seconds to enter each code. Otherwise, the code will change and the past entries become invalid. So like we said, we have to enter all the codes to disable the connections. After we uncouple the cars, we'll move into our target car. Remember, we only have 5 minutes to do everything, so make sure that you're prepared. Umm...that's all."

"That's all." echoed Squall. It was good plan, he couldn't fault that. But his gut feeling was telling him something. He only ever really had this gut feeling when something bad was about to go down.

They all looked up when they heard the squeal of a locomotive, bearing in their direction.

"Okay, here we go!" said Zell, mentally warming up.

Sure enough, the mighty roar gave birth to the storming Shin-Ra juggernaut. There was the powerful locomotive, thundering down the tracks, pulling behind it five carriages, all heavily armored and all carrying dozens of Shin-Ra guards. As the train surged under them, like a roaring river of metal, they took it one by one to leap down onto it. Zell was first, with Zone hot on his heals. Rinoa made an effortless vault down onto the carriage after them. Squall was ready to go, but unfortunately was behind Watts, who seemed to be getting the jitters about this particular section of the mission.

"Umm, gathering information is my specialty, sir." he said. "Why don't you go first, I'll only be in your way. Perhaps I could sit this one out, sir?"

Squall rolled his eyes and grabbed Watts by the collar, who screamed effeminately as they dropped onto the carriage. They were on the fifth car, the very back of the train. They had just made it.

"Squall!" called Rinoa's voice. "Over here!"

She was on the forth car, at the rear, where the cars joined. Squall nodded and ran forward towards her, ducking low to compensate for the wind rushing into his face. He stopped when he saw Rinoa's expression, a mixture between a frown and an entertained smile. Then it clicked, and Squall sighed. He turned around, and went back for Watts, who's legs had turned to jelly.

"Didn't know you had motion sickness, Watts." she said when they arrived.

"I don't ma'am." blubbed Watts. "It's just that tradition usually dictates that passengers travel _inside _the train."

"Not to worry." Rinoa grinned. "Once we detach the other cars, we'll drop down into the first, which has the least amount of guards, plus our main target. Alright, Squall. You're up."

Squall nodded and took the cable from her. It was high-tension, and would easily support his weight. Just to be sure, he looped the end of it around one of his belts that criss-crossed his waist.

He absailed effortlessly down the side of the train and found the access panel waiting for him. He flicked it open and sure enough, there were the four symbols. His free hand hovered over them as he waited for Rinoa's call.

"The code is...." he heard her. "4124!"

Squall punched it in; s l **X s **

"Got it!" Squall shouted up, and began to ascend. Upon returning to the roof, they watched as gravity, inertia and weight all worked together, and the last car began to slip away from the train, the soldiers inside completely oblivious.

"One down." said Rinoa. "Come on, let's go."

The three of them ran forward to the link between the third and fourth cars (Watts was able to move by himself this time.) where Zone squatted, waiting.

"You nervous?" Zone shouted to Squall, over the din of the wind rushing through their ears.

Squall gave no reply and readied the cable again.

"Hah hah! Of course!" laughed Zone. "It's like a rollercoaster, ain't it! You're nervous at first and don't wanna do it, but as soon as it's over, you wanna go again, huh?"

Squall glared at him as he dropped over the side. Once again, he opened the panel and waited for the code.

"The code is..." Rinoa called down to him. "2243!"

As Squall put the symbols through, the train clattered over a small bump in the track, and his finger slipped, accidentally punching in the wrong final symbol. He was about to tell Rinoa his mistake, when to his surprise, the fourth carriage began to detach anyway. As it pulled away, Squall wondered if he had really hit the wrong button or not.

"Let's go, Squall!" Rinoa called, and he ascended again. By the time he made it to the join between the second and third cars, they were already waiting for him. Zell, Zone, Watts and Rinoa.

"Damn, man." mused Zell. "You'll never catch me doing that."

Squall gave no reply. He was too busy thinking about that last mis-placed symbol which had still released the lock. He said nothing as he jumped over the side of the train for the last time.

He opened the panel and stared at the symbols, the wheels and cogs of his mind turning....

"The last code is...." Rinoa called from above. "3134!"

Squall hesitated this time, his free hand still hovering over the symbols. There was that gut feeling again. There was something afoot here, something up that the Midgar Owls weren't supposed to know about...

Squall reached the conclusion that there was only one way to prove his hunch, and tapped in the wrong code on purpose; Four triangles consecutively. Sure enough, the third car detached and fell behind. The codes meant squat. There must be uncoded circuit boards controlling the locks...but why?

"Alright Squall, come on!" Zell shouted. "This next bit is a group effort!"

Squall pulled himself up, unsure whether or not to tell them about his hunch. Damn, no time now, as they all began to ready their weapons. Zell tightened his gloves. Watts made sure his Taser was charged up. Watts swung his nunchuku and gripped them in one hand. Rinoa began to fasten a strange-looking weapon to her arm.

"That a pinwheel?" Squall asked, checking Griever himself.

"Yeah." she replied, impressed. It _was _a rare weapon after all. "How did you know?"

"I know every weapon." Squall said, and clicked the bullet-chamber closed. "Let's do it!"

Zell drew up his fist and brought it crashing down on the carriage's skylight, splintering it instantly. At this, Squall dropped down inside, his gunblade already swinging. He landed inside the carriage, spinning like a dervish, his gunblade connecting with the alarmed soldiers before they even knew he was upon them. Rinoa jumped through and landed rolling, then brought herself upright and fired her pinwheel at the soldier attempting to sneak up behind Squall. Zell jumped through next, planting a kick square in the face of a soldier directly below him. By the time Zone and Watts fell through, it was over.

"W-well." breathed Watts. "That was easy, sirs, ma'am."

"Too easy." said Squall, keeping Griever drawn. Rinoa nodded, agreeing with him silently.

They looked around. The carriage was furnished with a luxurious thick red carpet, comfortable leather seats, exquisite furniture, and even some expensive paintings on the walls. There was even some computer equipment built into the carriage, which was concentrated at the front of it. It was entire wall of computers and technology, the centrepiece of which was a giant screen. It was blank, the only piece of equipment not switched on. 

In front of them all was a large oak chair, it's back to the team.

"Something doesn't smell right." stated Zone.

"Yeah, I got a bad feeling too." said Zell.

Squall decided to confirm their anxiety. "Those last two codes to disconnect the cars." he announced.

"Yes?" prised Rinoa.

"I entered them wrong. The second by accident, the third on purpose. They used unencoded circuit boards for the locking mechanism. Those cars would have disconnected no matter what I pushed. We weren't supposed to know that."

There was a pause from everyone as they digested this fact.

"Well, who cares?" said Rinoa, stepping forward. "We made it anyway, so lets do what we came to do."

There was no fooling Squall, he could sense the nerves in her voice. He followed her as she walked towards the oak chair. She slowly reached out her hand and turned it slowly around, her weapon trained. The chair turned to reveal the face of none other than...

...It was empty.

"What the hell?" shouted Zone. Instantly, they lurched back as the train began to pick up speed. Bars shot out, blocking off the skylight and the windows. They were trapped.

"It's a trap!" cried Zell, showing his talent for stating the blatantly obvious.

At this, the giant screen flickered to life, revealing the gloating face of President Shin-Ra himself.

"Hmmm...." he mused, looking them over. "So you must all be that......sorry, I'm terrible with names, what was it again?"

"Midgar Owls." Rinoa replied, anger beginning to boil in her voice.

"Long time no see." Squall said to himself. Shin-Ra heard this, his face turned towards Squall, and shone a glint of recollection.

"Ah yes, of course!" he exclaimed. "How could I ever forget a face of the Generation; NeXus project? You're not Seifer.....You're that other one, Leonhart."

"Squall Leonhart."

"Yes, I knew it was _some _meteorological term. Hmmm, Squall Leonhart. According to the project records, you were killed in action a year ago. We shall have to update our files."

"I'm honoured." panned Squall, not meaning it.

"You didn't let me finish." continued Shin-Ra. "I was about to say, we shall have to update our records from saying you died last year to you died today."

"Shut your hole!" Zell shouted, running forward. "Y'all Shin-Ra are goin' _down_. And I'm gonna personally be there on the day that happens, to make _sure _that happens!"

Shin-Ra grinned wickedly. "Oh, I doubt that very much, my boy. You see, you're all about to go up in a very big bang any minute now."

They all began to feel the train's velocity increasing.

"What are you doing?" Rinoa demanded.

"You are now beginning to spiral up the main support structure." explained Shin-Ra. "We've placed a solid barrier somewhere half-way up. There is no way to stop the train, and no way to save your pathetic hides. Such a shame to waste a decent train on vermin like you, but pathetic so-called resistance movements such as yours cannot be tolerated any longer. We'll simply say that you terrorists tried to sabotage the Midgar rail system, and you all died in the attempt."

Zell's blood boiled.

"You just wait 'til I come get you!" he roared. "I'm gonna barbecue your ass, then I'm gonna punch you right the hell over the edge of that damn building of yours, you son of a bitch!"

"Charming vocabulary." replied Shin-Ra, then looked at his watch. "Well, I have a dinner I must attend. So, I'll be leaving you. Good evening to you all. Don't forget to die."

The monitor switched off, leaving Shin-Ra's laughter echoing in their ears, laughing at their sealed fate.

***

"There's no way out, there's no way out!" panicked Watts. "We're doomed!"

"Can it Watts!" snapped Rinoa. "You're upsetting the other passengers! Now calm down or we'll have you put off the train!"

Rinoa's mild attempt at humour not withstanding, the team scrambled about in every direction, trying to find a release or escape somewhere.

"Maybe we can break open one of the windows, squeeze between the bars and–"

"Jump?" Rinoa finished for him. "No way. We're spiralling up the support structure. We'd never survive it."

"Well there has to be a way out!" pleaded Zone.

Squall had kept the quietest as usual, putting his skills at work one more.

"Hang on!" he said, deciding upon his idea. He drew Griever and jammed it into the sealed door at the front left-hand-side of the carriage. He kept on triggering, sending charge after charge through the blade, tearing through the steel of the reinforced door. Once a glowing hot circle of torched metal was form, Squall drew back and gave the cut-section of the door a swift kick. It sailed out towards the ground far below. As the rushing wind began to howl into the carriage, Squall climbed out and pulled his body forward, fighting the wind to get onto the locomotive and find what he was looking for.

As he made it to the cab, Rinoa and Zell stuck their faces around the side of the carriage, trying to see what Squall was up to. They saw him leaning in front of the locking mechanism for the train cars.

"He's going to disconnect us!" Zell shouted.

Rinoa admired Squall's ingenuity. If the lock for that one was the same as the rest, then it would disconnect the car no matter what code Squall pressed. Rinoa then realised with something like horror that Squall would not be able to make it back to their car. Because they were on an upward slope, the cars would slip away a lot quicker than the others. Plus, the locomotive would continue the game speed, and the carriage would fall away instantly.

"Squall!" she shouted.

"This is the only way!" he shouted. "Don't worry about me! I'll be fine!"

"I was going to say, Don't you dare think this counts as our special contract, Squall Leonhart!" she called back to him, almost smiling.

"Yeah, sure!" he shouted back over the wind. "Whatever! Look, when that carriage stops, split and head back to your hideout. The Shin-Ra will be looking for you if you hang around!"

"Alright!" replied Zell.

"And don't _you _dare think I'm not coming back!" Squall shouted back to them. They nodded, and ducked back inside the carriage. Squall leaned over the side and found the access panel. Without a seconds pause, he flipped it off and it the buttons in random sequence. Just as he'd hoped, the carriage instantly disconnected and fell away, rolling back down the tracks.

Satisfied this was done, Squall flipped himself up onto the roof of the cab. He walked forward, fighting the force of the wind as he did so. He knew he only had one chance, and only one opportunity to survive this. He crouched down into a starting position, ready to run for his life. The barrier appeared from around the next bend and began to hurtle towards the rocketing locomotive. Squall took off, running as fast as he could along the length of the locomotive. He ran like the hounds of hell were snapping at his heels. His timing was perfect, and he reached the very front of the locomotive splitseconds before it met the barrier. He leaped clear above the barrier, which the train smashed into, exploding instantly. The force of the explosion caught his already airborne body and flung it through the air, flipping over and over as he was propelled across the slums, like an angel falling to earth. 

Squall could feel himself falling now, his last thoughts before he blacked out being; _This is gonna hurt..._

***

Darkness. He felt it all around him, like he was wrapped up in a blanket of unconsciousness.

Light. An island in a sea of nothing......he saw..he saw a flash....of something.

Darkness.

Light. Yes, a flash. A flash of gold........

Darkness. 

Light. A flash of blonde hair, that was it.

Darkness.

Light. Reflecting off a pair of glasses. And, behind that....blue eyes. Familiar eyes?

Darkness.

Light. Familiar eyes? Yes, it's that girl from the other night. No, it's not that. It's from before that.

Darkness.

Light. And now a voice. Yes, a familiar voice. A very familiar voice. I voice from his childhood.

Darkness.

Light. Blue eyes, glasses, blonde hair, and that voice that was like cherries. That girl from last night, yes. But now, his fogged memory cleared as he experienced total recall.

Squall sat forward groggily. The girl squatted over him, still not believing it. She knew that she had known him from somewhere, but how had she not been able to remember someone this special the instant her eyes had seen him last night. Now that he was here, up close, there was no doubt about it. Her mouth hung open in surprise.

Squall noticed her squatting next to him as he shook his head. The fall had hit him for a three-pointer. But, as his vision finally cleared, he found himself face to face with a vision from his past. He was looking at the face of his childhood friend.

"Quistis?!"

"Squall!?"

***

"My Gods!" Quistis exclaimed. "Squall! How did you– When did you– How is......"

Squall looked at her.

"How have you _been, _Squall?" she said finally, smiling.

"....I'm fine." he replied, still a little dizzy.

"When did you escape Shin-Ra?" she asked.

"I didn't. Not really, not how you did, anyway."

Quistis looked at him and sighed. "You stayed with them, didn't you? They kept you on and continued training you, just like I said."

"Who cares?" dismissed Squall. "I'm out of that now."

"Squall, what about Seifer and Ellone?" she asked. "Are they with you? Are you together?"

Squall turned away from her, and noticed for the first time that he was in a church. It was run down and shabby. Rotted boards full of wood lice, as well as moss and weeds growing up and along the walls. There were also even some flowers. That's odd. Can flowers bloom in Midgar?

"No." he said flatly. He didn't know where Ellone was. He didn't know where Seifer was either, but he couldn't begin to tell her that tale. Quistis, he hadn't seen for nearly eight years.

"It's good to see you again, Squall." she said, changing the subject.

He turned around slowly. "Yeah..."

They hadn't seen each other since they were 9 and 10 years old. Their bodies had changed much from the helpless little children they had been so long ago.

"I didn't recognise you at all when I saw you there, the other night." Quistis said suddenly. "You've changed so much."

"Likewise." commented Squall.

Squall's body had responded well to the heavy training they must have put him through. His genetic attributes that would have stood out on their own seemed to have been boosted ten times over by SeeD conditioning. He was twice as tall as the child she remembered, and doubly handsome. She couldn't help but notice the scar between his eyes again, but it would probably be rude to talk about it. It was Squall, after all.

Puberty had been kind to Quistis' body, Squall noticed. A fully developed figure, (she must work out) and her face was pretty sublime too. The last time he'd seen her, she'd still had her puppy fat. She was considerably taller, and had grown from the child he knew into a young woman. There was something else, too. If she was still what he remembered her to be, then she must have had a new influx of power since her childhood. Her aura was much stronger than he remembered.

"I have to get going." he said, the dizziness gone. "I have to go see somebody."

"Oh?" said Quistis, a little disappointed that he wanted to leave so quickly, but she should have seen it coming. "Maybe I can help you, Squall. I never made it out of Midgar, after all. I've spent the last eight years here. I know my way around blindfolded."

"You know the way to Sector 7 from here?" he asked.

"Sure." she replied. "It's a bit of a walk, and the roads in the slums have been abandoned for decades, but we can make it. Do you mind if we take a detour by my house? I have to tell mom."

Squall was about to ask her how, seeing as how Quistis' mother was supposed to be dead and all, when suddenly, they both heard footsteps coming from the church entrance.

"Crap." Quistis expressed.

"Hey, hey, hey. Not very ladylike, that kinda talk." came a voice from behind the church doors, which creaked open eerily. In stepped a figure. A man, mid-twenties, older than Squall and Quistis. He had red hair and wore a black suit. Squall recognised the black suit immediately.

The Turks. The division of Shin-Ra that specialised in kidnapping, extortion, blackmail, spying, torture and various other illegal activities. Some of their members were often recruited directly from SeeD.

"Don't mind me." he said. "New boyfriend, Quistis? Looks a bit girly to me."

Squall almost grinned. He knew he could easily snap this guy in half, fold him up and mail him back to Shin-Ra with a note attached.

"Got no quarrel with you." said the Turk, looking at Squall. "Just came for Quistis."

"So what else is new? Let's get out of here, Squall."

"What are you worried about?" Squall said. "It's only one guy."

"CORRECTION!" came a voice from behind the doors, and in stepped two other Turks, albeit slightly younger. They looked like they were right out of SeeD and into the black suits. There was also something vaguely familiar about them.

"Yeah, we're here ta back you up, Reno, ya know?" said the largest of the three. He was a burly big black guy, and it looked like they must have had some fun measuring him out for his suit, which he must have seen fit to customise himself. He bore a metallic shoulder-pad, and a pair of shades. He also had his hair done in dreads. All in all, he thought it made him look impressive. It didn't.

The girl next to him however, seemed to commandeer an air of authority. She had dyed silver hair, and also had a metallic shoulder-plate. She also seemed to have lost an eye, as there was a patch over where one should have been. She wore the mandatory black suit of the Turks, but instead of the white shirt and tie, she wore a blue untied shirt under her jacket. Amazing how somebody who seemed so rigid and authoritative was allowed to bend the rules as far as the uniform was concerned.

She fixed Squall and Quistis with an icy stare, until finally, a wave of recognition washed over her.

"SQUALL." she said flatly.

"Fujin." Squall returned. "And Raijin."

"Huh?" echoed Raijin. "Oh yeah! Long time no see, Squall, ya know? Hey, have you heard anything from Seifer?"

Fujin's response was to kick Raijin deftly in the back of the knee. As he yelled out in pain, he lost his balance and fell forward onto a pile of rotting chairs. They collapsed under his weight and splintered apart.

"Did you go to SeeD or Clown College?" hissed the lead Turk angrily. "Let's get what we came for!"

"Sorry, Reno." apologised Raijin.

"STOP TALKING." ordered Fujin. "PERSUE AND SEIZE!"

"That's the interlingual gesture for leg it, Squall!" Quistis yelled, grabbing Squalls hand and running out towards the back of the church.

Reno glared after them. "Great, just bloody great. I must have really pissed somebody off to get landed with you two jokers. Come on, let's get after them!"

***

Squall bounded up the rotting wooden steps of the building. It was about three stories high. The most unusual feature was the large rocket embedded in it. It must have crashed in here years ago and collapsed the floors.

"Come on!" shouted Squall, leaping from his position, over toward a rotting staircase. It shook uneasily as he landed on it. As Quistis followed, it shook even more. They ran up the stairs, moving as fast as they could to get out of the building.

"There they are!" shouted a voice. Reno.

Squall and Quistis reached a gap in the floor. A large space where the rocket had come crashing through the wall. It looked like a pretty big leap. Squall took a running start at it and leaped clear across, skidding to a halt on the other side.

"Stop them." Reno ordered to Fujin, who nodded and drew her out-sized shuriken. She flung it upward with a fast under-spin. It sailed upwards and crashed through the deadwood where Quistis had just been standing seconds before. The shuriken now plummeted downward, where Fujin caught it easily. Reno looked up and grinned. The gap was far too large for Quistis to jump across. They had her now.

Raijin was already running up the steps, headed for Quistis. Squall couldn't leap back. Even he had barely been able to clear the gap before Fujin widened it.

Quistis looked down, left, right, and finally up. Then grinned.

As Raijin advanced on her, she drew her whip. He stopped, then drew out his bo staff. She grinned again and turned around. She cracked the whip upwards, where it wrapped around a beam. She lifted her weight onto it and swung across the gap, landing nimbly beside Squall. A quick flick of her wrist and the whip recoiled back into her hand.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Squall asked.

"Saw it in a movie. Let's go!"

They ran up the steps, across the beams and towards a large hole in the roof. They leapt forward outside, and into the arms of escape.

Raijin stood, dumbfounded. Reno and Fujin glared up at him. Reno waved his hand and turned, walking away. Not to worry, there would still be another chance....

***

"Well, they're after me again." sighed Quistis as they sat on the roof.

"Haven't you been on the run for eight years?" Squall asked.

"Yep. Problem is, I'm too good for them to catch." she smiled.

"Whatever."

"Gods, you haven't changed one bit." Quistis laughed. "Anyway, I know which way it is to Sector 7. Let's go."

And so they went, running and jumping over roofs and debris. Quistis was good a keeping up, but only really because Squall was slowing his pace a fraction.

"Don't you ever run out of breath?" she asked.

Squall gave no reply as he stood up and looked around.

"So what's in Sector 7?" Quistis asked earnestly.

"A bar. 'Roses And Wine', it's called." Squall saw the blink of recognition in Quistis' eye. "You know it?"

"I know _of _it." Quistis replied. "I've never been to it, but there's this really cute guy with a cool tattoo that buys flowers from me sometimes. He usually buys them for the owner. I think she just wants to make the place look nice."

"Her name's Rinoa." Squall said, by way of fact.

"Ah." Quistis sighed, then blinked. "Is she the reason you're trying to get to Sector 7?"

"Not really." Squall replied. "I'm supposed to meet up with her for......." he trailed off.

"Oh." said Quistis. "This Rinoa is a friend?"

Squall shrugged, not sure how to answer.

"Is Rinoa your girlfriend?" she probed.

"Yes." Squall replied, without hesitation. Quistis was stunned.

"A girlfriend? You? You're kidding."

"I'm serious." he continued.

"Wow, Squall, I don't know what to say."

"I'm seriously joking."

Quistis stood still for a moment. "Oh har har." she panned. "Still, that was a good one, even for you. Come on, I'll show you the way. First, I gotta stop by my moms house, and then I'll take you to Sector 7."

Squall followed her as she led, walking through the dirt paths and debris. It was odd. In all the chaos and randomness of the world, it was in this very place that he'd found his childhood friend again, in the last place he ever expected to find her.

* * * * * * * *

  
______________________________________________________________________________ 

****

Author's Note: Well, are you starting to enjoy the switches, the character placings and the melding of elements from both games? These first three chapters were just an introductory warm-up. You ain't seen nothin' yet!

_____________________________________________________________________________ 


	4. Fragments Of Memories

Chapter IV; "Fragments Of Memories"

The slums weren't just a place for oppressed people, Squall soon noticed. There were some people here who made a bad place worse by merely being there. Drug addicts thieves and rapists were potentially behind every face. Most of the people here were honest and decent enough. It just takes a few bad people to make something a bad place, unfortunately.

The Sector 5 Slums seemed to be a decent enough place, not all that dissimilar to Sector 7, really. A few people were still cleaning up after the Solstice celebrations, but aside from that, everything else seemed fine. It was still open for business, and there were one or two suspicious characters still around. Quistis had gotten a few ugly looks from these characters, but they could clearly see whom she was with. Even if Squall wasn't with her, she could easily take care of herself. She was pretty handy with that whip of hers, and even if she was caught without that, Squall was still sure that she was still what he remembered her to be...

"There's my house." Quistis said, de-railing Squall's train of thought.

He followed her gaze and looked towards the small two-storey hovel. It was a house by itself, and right next to it was a flower field, a sight Squall never expected to see in the slums. How could flowers grow where there was no natural sunlight?

Quistis pushed open the door and held it open for Squall, who followed.

"Mom!" she called. "I'm home!"

__

Mom? Squall wondered again.

There was the sound of footsteps, and a very tall red-haired woman came walking down the stairs. She wore mostly red and black, and her hair was a bright crimson, the colour of blood. Her skin was a little paler than Squall or Quistis, and what Squall really noticed were her eyes. They were a photonegative. Her whites were jet-black, and her pupils a bright red, the same as her hair. She looked an awful lot like the woman Squall had seen in his dream that night.

"Sorry I'm late." Quistis explained. "I met somebody. Mom, this is Squall. He helped me escape the Turks. He's my childhood friend, mom, from way back when we were held by Shin-Ra."

"Yes, I remember Squall." said the woman. Her voice was familiar too. "But not just from back then. I remember Squall from way before then, Quistis."

"Please, mom, you know we can't remember back that far."

"Indeed." said the woman, then turned her eyes to Squall, and smiled. "You've really grown."

"I know you...." Squall said slowly, trying to remember. "Of course you do. I tried to help you and the others, so many years ago, don't you remember?"

"........" Squall tried to think.

"Try to remember, Squall." said the woman. "I'm Adel. I tried to help you, Quistis, Seifer and Ellone when you were just nine years old. Surely you remember?"

"Yes...." Squall said. "I do remember."

______________________________________________________________________________ 

__

Flashback

"No..." Squall said. "I don't remember."

"You've got to know the way, Squall!" Ellone pleaded. "You've been in the vents thousands of times. You should know which way to go."

"I knew it." Seifer groaned. "He's going to wuss out on us."

"Shut up!" Quistis hissed. "This could be our only opportunity to escape. If we fail this, we could be stuck with the Shin-Ra for the rest of our lives. We don't have time for this kind of bickering. Now, which way is it, Squall?"

".... Left." he said eventually. "I think it's left."

"Okay then, let's hurry." said Quistis.

The children scuttled forward, being careful to avoid the laser beams that protected the vents from intruders. But their bodies were small, and Squall had been through the vents thousands of times. They never caught him, and they never would. Especially not if they managed this escape.

They moved quickly, but quietly. The Shin-Ra building was not a day-care center. Children, especially these children, would not be allowed to escape their confines and wander around like this. If they were caught, God knows what Shin-Ra would do to them. On second thought, not even He could imagine how sick some of Shin-Ra's deeds were....

"Here it is!" Squall whispered joyfully. "I knew it, I found it!"

They were at a vent on the 61st floor, the employee lounge. They could see quite a number of staff all talking, joking, eating, and smoking. Basically all the boring stuff adults do.

Ellone shushed them silent and pointed out the Shin-Ra guards that were also there. They tried their very best to remain silent and still. 

It was torture. Have you ever tried it? When you do your very best to remain quiet, every single sound is amplified a dozen times. You even think that the sound of your own heart thumping with anxiety will give you away.

Suddenly, Seifer clasped his hand to his mouth and sneezed. It was muffled, and no louder than the sound of a mouse, but in the vent, it felt like an explosion had gone off.

The children's hearts stopped. One of the guards looked over to the vent curiously.

"I'll check it." said one of them, and walked over.

The children hushed and pressed themselves against the vent walls, trying to avoid the probing light of the soldier's torch shining through the vent. The light stopped searching and clicked off.

And then, the vent was opened, and the soldier looked inside.

She removed the faceplate of her helmet and smiled at them.

"Thank Hyne." breathed Adel. "You made it. This floor is too crowded children. Try to make it to the 65th floor. There's nobody there. I'll get you out from there, okay. Squall, do you know the way?"

Squall nodded.

"You're a very brave boy." said Adel. "Okay, good luck, children."

Adel replaced her faceplate and then put the grille back on the vent. The children the relaxed, and began to follow Squall through the vents to get to floor 65.

Upon reaching floor 65, Quistis drew back against the vent wall and began to kick the grille out of the frame. Seifer helped, and it soon clattered noisily to the ground. Adel was already there, her face-plate off.

"Come on, children." she said quietly, catching them in her arms as they dropped out of the vent one by one.

"We'll take the lift down to the bottom floor." she explained. "I know two soldiers who can help us. They were very sympathetic when I explained what happened to you all. They have a van waiting outside to take us to freedom. Okay, is that everyone?"

No, it wasn't. Squall was still in the vent, hesitating.

"Squall, sweetie, drop down. I'll catch you." offered Adel.

"He's scared." said Seifer, condescending as ever.

"Squall, we have to hurry, please!" pleaded Ellone.

"Squall, we can't stay!" explained Quistis. "If we do, we'll be stuck with thee Shin-Ra for the rest of our lives. They'll just make you a soldier, Squall. They'll just turn all of us into living weapons, is that what you want?"

"....No."

"Then come on!"

Squall jumped out the vent and landed in Adel's arms. She set him down and they began to walk quickly, as a group, towards the elevator.

"Hey!" shouted a voice.

"Damn." hissed Adel, not turning around.

"Hey!" shouted the voice. "What are you doing with those kids! They're not supposed to be here! Hey....are they the ones from the Generation; NeXus project?!?!? RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!!!"

Adel turned and threw up her hands, raising a firewall that bisected the entire floor. The guards shouting for back-up could be heard on the other side of the towering inferno.

"Run, children!" Adel shouted and sprinted towards the lift. They followed her without a second's pause. The doors slammed shut behind them, as machine-gun fire impacted with the steel on the other side.

Adel breathed a sigh of relief as she clicked the button for the first floor.

"We're safe." she said. "We'll soon have you home, children."

Squall looked out through the glass, over the glowing dark city beneath them. _I don't ever remember having anywhere to call a home...._

There was a disorientating jerk as the elevator instantly halted, stuck between floors.

"They cut the power!" Adel gasped.

"What do we do now?!" Quistis panicked, then they all screamed as the floor beneath them began to tilt at an angle, tipping them off their balance. Ellone and Quistis slid forward and clung to the side, desperately hanging on for dear life. Adel flung herself forward, lying flat as she tried to hang on to Quistis, who was slipping.

"Squall! Seifer!" she gasped. "I can't get to Elle! Grab on to her!"

Squall and Seifer dove forward, each grabbing one of Ellone's hands, until they were all she was hanging by. Adel cried for Quistis to hang on to her hand, then looked up as soon as she heard the sound. The soldiers were trying to force the doors open.

Squall and Seifer managed to full Ellone up before the circular lift tilted again, and Adel slid forward. Now she was holding onto the ledge with one hand, and Quistis with the other.

"Squall, try to get out of here!" Adel shouted. "You know the way through the vents! Try to get outside, and find two soldiers named Ward and Kiros! They'll take you all to a safe place!"

"What about you?" Squall cried. "What about Quisty?!"

"I'll protect her." Adel pledged. "Whatever you do, Squall, don't stay here! Don't let them make you a soldier! You were all meant for better things!"

The doors opened above them, and the lift tilted once more. Adel lost her grip, and she and Quistis plunged through the shaft. As Quistis screamed, Adel tucked her tight in her arms and flipped around, preparing to take the full painful brunt of the fall and protect Quistis....

"Hello, kiddies." came a sinister voice. "You know you're up past your bedtime."

Squall, Seifer and Ellone struggled and screamed as they were carried away by the soldiers, whilst Hojo and Gast stood there, looking on, pondering their next move.

"Prepare the mind-scan." Hojo advised. "We must purge their memories, otherwise they'll never accept their training, and all our plans will be for naught."

"Say what you will about science." said Gast. "But that Odine guy isn't human. Just not human."

Hojo grinned.

_______________________________________________________________________

"Yes...." Squall said. "I do remember."

Adel smiled.

"But, you didn't die?" he asked, confused.

"No, Squall." she said. "It's very hard to kill a Sorceress. The power in our bodies won't let us die. It makes us immune to even the most fatal of injuries, sometimes. But sometimes, the injuries are too severe, and we die, but our body won't rest until it passes on its power. Sometimes, we suffer terrible injuries, and passing on our powers and becoming mortal is the only way to save us."

"Is that how you and Quistis survived the fall?" Squall asked.

Adel looked at him, still smiling. "Is Squall going to be staying the night?" she asked Quistis.

"I don't know, mom." Quistis replied. "He's kind of eager to get to Sector 7."

"I don't mean to impose...." Squall trailed off.

"Oh nonsense, we have plenty of space." said Adel. "I don't mind. You can take the spare bedroom, it's right next to Quistis' one."

***

Squall stared up at the ceiling, hands behind his head. He was trying not to think about the Midgar Owls, wondering if they would still be there when he got back. Shin-Ra seemed pretty serious with their "Operation; Zero Tolerance." policy towards rebels.

__

Odd, Squall...hoping they're alright?

He looked over towards the locker. There was a dog-eared copy of a script there. It was the play "Loveless". Squall flicked through it, couldn't get interested, and set it back on the locker.

__

Adel, Adel, Adel, that's.......the same Adel back at the canyon, with that Edea woman. Edea, even her _name sounds familiar. I remember Hojo said something about a mind-scan. Is it possible that those memories are mine, and they were taken from me?_

As his thoughts raced and raced, he barely noticed the buzzing in his head, growing louder and louder, until it was too late.

* * * * * * *

~Dreamworld~

* * * * *

The train whistle blew, amongst the clearing steam and fog of the slums.

As the door opened, the people emerged, and several ran to open arms, reunited with family members. They hugged, kissed and laughed, before walking with their kindred towards their homes.

Two figures also emerged from the train. The small one, trying to support the other, much taller. She leaned against the carriage door, trying to support her weight with her dying strength. With the help of the younger one, she began to step lightly across the platform, before collapsing at the foot of the steps. The younger one did not let go, still trying to help her.

".... I'm dying." said Adel, softly.

"No." refused Quistis. "You're going to live."

"...the fall...." panted Adel. "I protected you...at great.....cost....to myself...."

"There has to be something I can do!" pleaded Quistis. "We've come this far, I can't survive without you. The Shin-Ra will never stop looking for us, I can't face them all by myself."

"....You...can..." gasped Adel. "If you...are...strong enough..."

"My powers haven't matured." whined Quistis. "I'm not strong enough to face them if they come."

"That is why....I must...give you....my power."

"What?!"

"It's the....only....way to save.....my life." Adel explained. "To become.....mortal.....and, if something should....ever happen to me.....you...will be....strong enough....to fight."

Quistis nodded. "Alright...."

"You're a.....very....brave....girl......"

With her last ounce of strength, Adel reached up and placed the palms of her hands on Quistis' temple. The little girl closed her eyes as shards up purple fire began to emanate from Adel's eyes and run down her face and hands, into Quistis.

When it was over, Adel let go and fell back onto the steps, unconscious but alive. Quistis fell to her knee's gasping. She could feel the power inside her now, the crackling raw energy of the universe, flowing through her body. She was now a conduit for the full-unchained powers of the cosmos.

She could also feel Adel's words in her mind....

__

Always remember; with great power comes great responsibility.

Quistis stood up, and began to try to support Adel, as they walked deep into the slums. After a long time of searching for shelter, she found a run-down abandoned house. Upstairs, she found a bed for Adel to lie in whilst she recovered.

After looking around, Quistis decided this might be a good place to spend the night. Adel's recovery took longer than expected, however, so she decided it best to stay there for a week or so. By the time Adel had recovered, Quistis had already begun to put her enhanced powers to use in cleaning out the old house. When Adel was strong enough, she helped, reminding Quistis that they would have to move on, lest Shin-Ra come and find them. But, Shin-Ra never came. The Turks never found the house, which by now had a garden and running water. Quistis liked nothing better than to spend all her time in the Garden...

By the time Quistis had started puberty, the house had become home, and Adel had become "Mother".

* * * * * 

~Dreamworld End~ 

* * * * *

Darkness.

Again.

".....I see." said a familiar voice.

"See what?" asked another voice. Squall realised it was his own.

"Mhm? Oh, nothing." said the familiar feminine voice again. "I'm just trying to unlock the past, is all."

"Unlock the past? Why? Are you who I think you are?"

"Squall.........I'm not even sure I am who I think I am......"

"What?"

But then the voice trailed away, and Squall felt himself lost in the darkness once more. But he could feel the explosive light of consciousness hurtling towards him, as he began to wake up. His mind thundered out into the light, he opened his eyes and found himself staring at....

A pair of blue eyes behind spectacles, looking right into his. Strands of blonde hair fell into his face, and there was a real heavy feeling on his chest.

"Phew!" breathed Quistis. "You're awake."

"Yes." said Squall. "And now you can get off me."

"Oh, sorry about that."

Quistis lifted herself off him and sat at the side of the bed. "I was just trying to wake you up." she explained. "You were mumbling something, and you seemed a bit distressed, so I tried waking you up."

Squall sat forward and looked at her. She was dressed in a shiny pinkish-yellow satin set of pyjamas. Her hair was rough from a night's sleep, and she smiled at him, realising the embarrassment of the situation.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Late enough." Quistis said, standing up. "Come on, you wanna get to Sector 7 or not?"

She walked out of the room and into hers, and began to get change. Squall began to pull on his own clothes. He was a little angry with himself for sleeping too long. What if he got back to Sector 7 and there was nothing there but dust?

***

They made their way quickly through Sector 6, after saying goodbye to Adel. Quistis no longer wore the normal clothes she had worn when Squall met her in the church. She had now changed into a mostly orange and light brown ensemble colour. She also carried her trusty whip, hooped at her side, and the glasses were gone. She also wore her hair tied up, with two long thick strands whisping past her cheeks.

They crossed the Sector 6 highway, which was no small task, considering it's ruination. After crossing through an old playground, they came to the Sector 7 wall. They were on the right track.

After about another half an hour's walking, finally they reached the area of Sector 7 Squall was familiar with.

"What are you looking for?" Quistis asked.

"A sign." he replied.

"Huh?"

Squall pointed, and they began to walk down the street towards the bar, with the neon sign above it that said "Roses & Wine".

As they walked up the steps, Squall could hear arguing.

"– and I say it _is _important." was Rinoa's voice.

"I'm not disagreeing, Rinoa." came Xu's voice. "In fact, I agree that it should be checked out."

"So why not have Watts do it?" Zell asked. "Gathering information _is _his speciality, after all."

"Um, s-sir. You're not that serious, are you?"

"Everyone, shut up!" snapped Zone. "Customers."

Squall stepped through the swing-doors, followed by Quistis.

"I'm not buying, we're just looking, thanks." panned Squall.

__

Yes! he thought. _They're alright!_

Rinoa's smile cut across her face, swelling up with happiness, even though she remained quiet, Squall could see her excitement.

"Alright, it's Squall!!!" shouted Zell, rushing forward to hug him. Squall planted his hand on his forehead and held him back, before Zell stopped.

"Great." said Zone. "Just when we needed him too."

"Sssh!" Xu shushed him. "Nice to see you again, Squall."

"Who's the ma-ma-ma-ma" Watts stuttered until Xu patted him on the back. "Madam?"

"Hey, yeah , I know you!" Zell exclaimed, looking at Quistis. "This is the girl I get the flowers from, Rin."

Rinoa stepped forward and shook her hand as Squall sat on a table next to them. "Nice to meet you." she said. "Rinoa Heartilly."

"Quistis Yvonne Trepe." smiled Quistis, shaking her hand.

Zell looked at Squall. _Quistis? _he thought _Sounds familiar...._

"Nice to finally meet you at last." Quistis continued.

"You've heard of us?" Rinoa asked, referring to the group.

"Nothing but good things."

Rinoa smiled. "Oh!" she said. "We're ignoring Squall! Hey, how did you two meet?"

Quistis looked at Squall. "We've actually known each other for a long time. We go way back."

"Oh?" Rinoa echoed. "It's like that, is it? Well I'm sorry for you that Squall got hurt. We apologise. We didn't know he had a lover."

Squall blinked.

"Lover?" Quistis parroted. "Well now, I wouldn't say that exactly. You thought he was my–? Oh, no, we're just friends, that's all."

"You're not involved?" said Rinoa.

"The thought never crossed my mind."

Squall blinked again.

"Sorry to hear about it." Rinoa giggled. "Really."

The two girls began to giggle together, as all the men rolled their eyes, knowing they were victims of a feminine wind-up.

"Um, sorry to break this up." said Zone. "But we have something really important to discuss."

"Then let's stop talking about my love life and get on with it." Squall said urgently, standing up.

"You mind if I stick around?" Quistis asked.

The Midgar Owls all looked at her.

Zone frowned. _Maybe one spy is enough for the evening...._ he thought.

"It's okay, Zone." Quistis said. "I'm no spy."

"Huh?"

Before he could ask her how she knew that, Squall spoke; "It's okay. I can vouch for her. She's just as anti-Shin-Ra as you guys are."

"Alright then." said Rinoa.

"Rinoa...." Zone protested.

"Zone. Who's leader?" she reminded him. "When you form your own resistance group, then you can make the rules, okay?"

Zone rolled his eyes and followed the others downstairs, including Quistis. They all filed past Squall and Rinoa until they were left standing there, facing each other.

"What's up!?" she asked.

"Yeah." said Squall. 

"I miss'd ya." Rinoa said. "...You know, I thought we were gonna die on the train. But you were able to save us all. I really missed you."

"I......wanted to see you, too." 

"Squall......" she gasped. "I can't believe you just said that! Oh my gosh! I'm so...happy...! Whew...wow..." 

They stood silent for a few moments.

"You know, you just surprised me." said Rinoa. "You looked and sounded so happy to see us. It was the first time I've seen you so honest. It was...really sweet."

__

Well, ummm... Squall thought.

"I was just happy to see that you were all alright." he explained. "What's so surprising about that? Is there something wrong?" 

"No!" Rinoa laughed. "There's nothing wrong! They're your comrades, but moreover, they're your friends." 

__

...Friends, huh...? Squall thought.

"Hey Squall, would you have been worried about me, too? Y'know, if Shin-Ra had caught us?" 

__

What? Why is she asking me this? I don't know. thought Squall.

"I...ahhh...I don't know. Umm...maybe...I don't know."

"Oh my gosh!" Rinoa exclaimed. "You're turning red!"

__

What...? No I'm not. 

"You're so cute!" she remarked. "Taking it seriously!" 

__

The heck!? Why is she toying with me?

"Come on, Squall." she said, still smiling. "We need you for this meeting too, you know. Hee hee, I promise I won't tell everyone about this."

"...Whatever." Squall dismissed and followed her downstairs.

***

"Okay, Squall." Rinoa began. "I'll fill you in on what happened after the train mission. The train car we were in eventually came to a halt, and we got out. From where we were, it was a long walk back to the hideout. Plus, we had to move through the rubble and wreckage to avoid being seen. By the time we did get back to Sector 7, however, we were surprised to find that there were virtually no Shin-Ra guards searching the place for us. There was, however, one suspicious guy looking around and asking questions about the Midgar Owls. So Zell caught him and squeezed some information out of him."

"That's when the name of Don Corneo popped up." said Zone.

"Oh my." said Quistis. "The Sector 6 Mafia? What do they want?"

"No idea." said Rinoa. "All we know is, the Don wanted to know the location of our base of operations. We have no idea why. That's why–"

"That's why we were thinking of sending in a spy to find out, and catch the bugger at his own game!" Watts blurted out. He looked at Quistis and grinned shyly. "Gathering information is my speciality, ma'am."

"It'll be dangerous." Squall said, speaking for the first time. "He'll be surrounded by all sorts of highly dangerous mercenaries."

"Luckily we have our very own highly dangerous mercenary." Rinoa giggled. "That's why I want you to come, Squall."

Squall nodded. "Who else?"

"Just me."

Everyone looked at her.

"Hey, I'm team leader." she explained. "I should be the one to go. Besides, we'd all look suspicious if we all went to Wall Market together. Better just a small team go. Just me and Squall."

"Then let's not waste time." said Squall, moving towards the lift.

"Rinoa." said Quistis. "You mind if I stay here? Just until you and Squall get back, I mean?"

"No, not at all." Rinoa smiled. "Make yourself at home."

As Squall and Rinoa left, Quistis turned and faced Zell, Zone and Watts.

"Okay, boys." she said. "Let's talk about that spot of flower arranging you've got going on upstairs..."

***

After a brisk walk out of Sector 7, they finally came to the great wall that marked the border between sectors. Squall had passed through here with Quistis little more than an hour ago, and was now on his way to Wall Market with Rinoa at his side.

"Hey." said Rinoa, slowing her pace to a stop.

"What?"

"Can we take a break?" she asked, walked over towards a large Moogle-shaped children's slide. Squall shrugged and followed her. He climbed up after her and sat with her there.

It was just like on the night they had first met, the two of them looking out over the misty slums together, staying silent and serene.

"What rank were you?" Rinoa asked. "You know? In SeeD."

Squall broke his gaze away from the slums and glanced at her for a second. "I was a Commander."

"Oh." she remarked. "Just like him."

"Who's him?"

"Oh? It's not important...." Rinoa trailed off. "Just my first boyfriend, that's all. From back when I used to live up on the plate."

"You were serious?" Squall asked.

"No. I didn't love him. And I think for a while, he couldn't accept that. He would try to do things to impress me, but they were usually just moronic. I liked him, but that was all. Maybe he wanted it to be something more, but it just wasn't going to happen, you know? But still, I guess I just really love the memories. I was 16, it was a nice summer, and I was with a great guy. There are many girls who could only hope for memories like that."

Squall couldn't even begin to understand how relationships work. He had no idea where to even begin trying.

"I might have known him. What was his name?"

"It's not important, Squall. Pay it no nevermind, okay? Let's not tell each other our sad stories."

Squall nodded and stood up, leaping off the slide. Rinoa went down the old-fashioned way, and together the two of them walked on towards Wall Market.

* * * * * * * *


	5. The Stage Is Set

Chapter V; "The Stage Is Set"

They arrived in Wall Market without a second to spare. It was busy with the hustle and bustle of tradesmen and people just trying to make an honest Gil. Or even a dishonest one, if possible.

"Which way is it to the Don's place?" Squall asked.

"I don't know." Rinoa replied. "Let's just take a look around and find it."

They walked through the market together, looking for clues as to the Don's whereabouts. Information was hardly forthcoming, however. That is, until one scumbag yelled out to Squall.

"Hey boy! You shore got a good lookin' heifer there! Take her to Don's place, and you'll make a mint."

He soon found himself on the receiving end of one of Squall's chokeholds, as per Rinoa's request.

"You want his boot in your face next?" she asked.

"Uh-uh."

"Then tell us where the Don lives."

"It's straight down there at the very end. Ya can't miss it."

"Alright, you can let him go, Squall."

Squall released his grip and the bum scrambled away into the market, although not before an apology to Rinoa was in order.

They walked straight on and came to the mansion. Even the outside was a vast shrine to bad taste. God only knows what it was like inside. As they approached the door, a large doorman, twice the size of Squall, approached them.

"This is the mansion of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wall Market." he boomed. "Look, the Don's not into men. So don't let me catch you around here again...Hey, and you got another cute one with you! She can come in senòr, but no men without an invitation."

Rinoa pulled Squall to the side, behind an abandoned sushi stand.

"So how are we going to get into this place?" Rinoa asked.

"It'll be tough. Like I said, then Don will be pretty well guarded. You could get in, but I can't let you go in alone...."

Rinoa began to giggle to herself.

"Maybe a more direct way is.... What's so funny?"

"Hee hee. Why don't you dress up like a girl, Squall? You could pull it off no problem."

Squall sighed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Let's go."

He walked up to the doorman once again. "We'd like to see the Don." Squall said.

"May I see you invitation?" said the doorman, clamping his hand on Squall's shoulder. Squall allowed himself a slight grin...

***

An almighty crash boomed throughout the mansion as the beaten-up doorman was thrown, crashing through the doors. As Squall and Rinoa stepped through the debris and over the doorman (now relegated to doormat), their worst fears were confirmed...

It was indeed, a gigantic eyesore. A shrine to tastelessness. Lava lamps and neon anime images of super-deformed girls with a bad case of visible-panty-line. There was even a disco-ball hanging from the ceiling, for crying out loud. It looked more like a brothel than a mansion. To make matters worse, there was some godawful music pumping out from the speakers, singing praise to "_The Partyman, all hail the new king in town. The funkiest thang you've ever seen..._" and on and on, _ad nauseum._

"The Attack Of The Psychotic Interior Decorator." Rinoa mused.

"Let's go." said Squall.

They walked up the steps towards the Don's office, where the "music" was coming from. As Squall tried the handle, he found it was locked. As he drew out his gunblade, Rinoa grabbed his hand.

"Um, let's try it the old fashioned way, first Squall, okay?"

She rapped on the door. "Knock knock!" she called.

"Who's there?" shouted a voice from the other side.

"Midgar Owls." Rinoa called back.

"Midgar Owls who?" the moronic voice shouted again.

Rinoa looked at Squall. "Hmm. Don't think I've heard this one before."

As they heard the click of the door unlocking, Squall drew back his foot and planted a heavy kick on the door. It swung back, sending whoever was on the other side flying backwards.

Squall and Rinoa entered the office. It was just as tasteless as the rest of the place, if not more so. There was the Don, a fat tub of lard sitting behind a desk. Three young girls were lined up in front of his desk. Rinoa clicked her fingers and pointed to the exit with her thumb. The girls immediately made a break for it. There was one bodyguard standing just behind the Don, and the second was out for the count, splayed out on the floor.

"Oh Don, we've come for a bit of a chat." Rinoa grinned.

"Get 'em Kotch!" Corneo yelled. Kotch leapt forward, yelling like a maniac. He drew a shotgun and pointed it right in Squall's face. Squall stood there, not flinching. There was a long pause between them, before...

Squall brought his gunblade up in a flash, slicing the shotgun to pieces. He then grabbed Kotch and threw him headfirst into the sound system, putting a stop to the so-called music.

"Wow." remarked Rinoa. "Two birds with one stone. Alright, Don. Let's talk."

The Don screamed and scrambled out of his chair, running back behind the curtain towards his own private chambers. Squall and Rinoa followed, bounding over the desk and cornering him.

"No way out." stated Rinoa, to the cowering Corneo. "Since you were so eager to learn about us, it's only fair that you tell us a bit about you."

"Like what you're doing sending people to snoop around Sector 7." Squall remarked.

"It wasn't me!" Corneo pleaded. "It was the Shin-Ra! They're organising this big clampdown on rebel factions. Sure, I made my boys find out where the Midgar Owls were located, but that's only what I was ordered to do!"

"By the Shin-Ra? Who in Shin-Ra?" Rinoa asked.

"Oh wow. You know, you look just like that celebrity Julia, anybody tell you that? Now, there's a body that has got it going _on, _you know what I mean?"

Squall pointed his gunblade right at the Don.

"Waaaaaaagh!!! It was Heideggar!!! Heideggar of Shin-Ra!"

"The head of public safety maintenance...." Squall mused.

"What are they up to?!" Rinoa demanded.

"Oh my, my dear, Tell me, have you ever considered a career in glamour modelling?"

Squall clicked the safety off as Rinoa adjusted her pinwheel.

"Gyaaaaaah!! They're planning to crush Sector 7 by breaking the support and dropping the plate on them!"

"They're going to annihilate Sector 7...." Rinoa gasped, horrified.

"We have to get there and warn everybody!" Squall cried.

As they moved for the exit, the Don called for them. "One last question, my dear!" he said, his tone changing. "Are you absolutely _sure _you can't be persuaded to model nude?"

Rinoa raised her arm and aimed her pinwheel for his throat. "Positive." she growled.

"Oh well, what a shame."

At this, the Don pressed a hidden switch at the side of his bed. The floor underneath Squall and Rinoa slipped open, and they fell through the trapdoor, down into the murky waste far below...

***

At the very centre of Midgar City lies Shin-Ra headquarters. It is from here that President Shin-Ra and his division heads rule the entire planet, in an empire built on Mako energy. At the very top floor of the building, President Shin-Ra sat at his desk, planning Armageddon...

"How are the preparations going?" he asked the fat bearded man in green, approaching his desk. 

"Ha, ha, ha! Smoothly, very smoothly!" Heidegger laughed. "I assigned the Turks to this."

"Good good." replied Shin-Ra.

"I gotta warn you, though." said Heideggar. "Not everyone is in favor of this."

Shin-Ra shrugged.

"Your son called from Junon. He thinks your plan is a terrible waste of the money and effort that went into building Area 7 in the first place."

"Did you tell him that after tonight we'll never have to worry about rebels again?"

"He hung up then, sir."

Shin-Ra grinned. "Anyone else against this?"

"Just the mayor."

"Deling?" Shin-Ra scoffed. "I'm surprised he even knew what was going on outside his office. The man couldn't find his ass if he was sitting on his hands. We should give him a proper warning not to try to interfere in Shin-Ra business, otherwise he'll end up like his friend General Caraway."

Heideggar cackled and exited as Shin-Ra looked out over his city.

"We'll destroy Sector 7 and wipe out the Midgar Owls once and for all. After that, no rebel group will dare oppose us again. Heh, heh, heh... this is perfect."

***

Rinoa screamed in terror as they plummeted down the shaft towards their doom. As they fell, rushing through the air, Squall grabbed her, pulling her body as close to him as possible. He needed her this close to be able to concentrate...

Rinoa screamed when she saw the ground rush up to greet her, and crossed her arms over face, expecting the impact...

Which never came.

She curiously opened her eyes and found that they were floating about a foot or so above the murky sewer water. She looked at Squall, who was still holding on to her. He was concentrating; beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. The two of them dangling upside down would have been pretty comical if they weren't just certain they were both about to die.

They turned over, and settled down, safe on _terra firma _once more.

"What was that?" Rinoa gasped.

"I drew Float from you and cast it just before we hit the ground." Squall explained, catching his breath. "I've never done a Draw like that. It was hard to concentrate, and your body had to be in the closest proximity possible."

"Oh..." said Rinoa. "So that's why you grabbed me close. Gee, and here was me wondering if you done it for one final moment of bliss."

"Final moments of bliss will be all the people of Sector 7 can hope for if we don't hurry!" Squall dismissed. Rinoa nodded, and together they ran, bounding through the filthy water as fast as possible, their footsteps causing deep splashes that echoed throughout the sewer walls.

They soon reached the way out, a ladder leading to a manhole. Squall punched the cover out of its place and leaped out, pulling Rinoa up behind him.

"Thanks." she said.

"Where are we?"

Rinoa looked around. "Seems hauntingly familiar. Either that or just plain haunted. This is the Train Graveyard, Squall, where all the retired trains are placed. This is a very dangerous place. Some say there's even a few ghosts flying around. No matter what, this place is definitely totally creepy."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Rinoa said. "Got a big strong chap like you to protect me, don't I?"

"Sure, whatever, let's hurry on!"

Squall pulled himself onto the roof of a burnt out train car, then hoisted Rinoa up after him.

"Are you worried about Quistis?" Rinoa asked, keeping up with him as they vaulted over the cars.

"It's nothing." Squall answered. "If it was you I'd be reacting the same."

"Why Squall..." replied Rinoa, with false cheer. "I didn't know you cared so much. You'll be asking for my hand in marriage, next."

"You'll have to make that an order." Squall riposted. Wow, two attempts at humour in two nights. A personal record.

"Are we there yet?" Rinoa panned in a childish voice.

"How far is it from here?" asked Squall, standing on an abandoned locomotive. Rinoa stood beside him.

"Not to far now!" she panted. "We can even make it with time to spare, I guess."

Squall nodded and looked for a way down off the locomotive.

"But can...can we take a.......take a nap.....first?" yawned Rinoa groggily.

"What?!" Squall turned around as she fell into his arms.

"I don' know wha id is Squall, but suddenly I feel vewy sweepy...." she yawned and passed out in his arms. Squall let her lie on the roof of the locomotive, as he too began to get dizzy.

"No...not now!......This......isn't good......" he yawned, and fell down to sleep right beside Rinoa.

* * * * * * *

~Dreamworld~

* * * *

Gast walked along the firing range, idly taking notes as the students that lay on the floor beside him continued their training. It was astonishing. All of them had excellent hand/eye co-ordination, precision targeting skills, and even enemy-movement anticipation.

What was most disturbing was the fact that none of them were under 11 years of age, and here they all are, lying forward to fire their semi-automatic weapons at the targets Shin-Ra gave them.

Gast ticked the boxes as he passed each of the children.

__

Lewis. Juvenile, long hair, green eyes, age 8. Targeting;................Excellent.4

Magaret. Juvenile, eldest female, age 11. Targeting; .....................Excellent.4

Claude. Juvenile, youngest male, age 7. Targeting;.......................Excellent.4

He carried on, watching the children annihilate the dummies that sprang up on the range, but sparing the dummies of innocents. He carried on walking until he came to the two students at the end. So far, these were the two best students in the project. Even their genetic qualities stood out head and shoulders above the others.

He found General Caraway, head of the Shin-Ra military standing there waiting for him.

"Gast." he demanded. "A word."

"Not now, Caraway." Gast dismissed. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"It's what you're busy with that disturbs me." Caraway growled.

Gast took his eyes from his folder for the first time. "You were given full autonomy and security clearance for this project, as head of the Shin-Ra military." he reminded him. "Not having second thoughts, are you?"

"I never even had first thoughts, Gast!" Caraway riposted. "But I should have said something the moment you bastards proposed this inhumane project. This isn't right! Children were never meant to be raised like this! How am I to go home and face my daughter every night when I know that there are children her age being given weapons and trained to kill? These children belong in real schools and playgrounds, not boot camps and training exercises. These children are the seeds of the future! God's sake, what kind of bastards are you to turn these seeds into soldiers?"

"We're creating a generation of soldier far superior to any other." boasted Gast. "Soldiers trained from the earliest possible age, so that they know nothing but combat and fighting. A pure bred soldier."

"It's the penultimate form of child abuse."

At their feet, cadets Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy continued to fire, oblivious to the conversation. Squall fired off a burst, taking out a dummy of an attacker before Seifer could.

"We're learning new and far greater things than we thought possible." said a voice from behind Caraway.

The evil presence of Hojo walked forward, his hands behind his back, his brow low, thinking. "Thanks to the work of Odine on the captive juvenile Sorceress, we've discovered how to use para-magic. We're thinking of training the Generation; NeXus project to use this technique. Imagine it, Caraway, a soldier who knows every single detail about combat, as he has learned nothing else."

"I imagine it." said Caraway. "And my skin crawls. Every single person who becomes a soldier does so voluntarily. These children were kidnapped to be conditioned against their will. And don't even get me started on that Odine sicko. I've heard the screaming from his laboratory. I'm going to see to it that this project is terminated, and all of you are made to pay for your crimes."

Caraway stormed off, disgust and rage burning in every fibre of his body.

"What was that now, all of a sudden?" mused Hojo.

"Family life is making him soft." said Gast. "He should never have put in for less hours so he could spend more time with his damn family."

"A shame." continued Hojo. "He chose between being a great soldier or a good family man. Trust a sentimental fool like that to pick the latter."

"Nevertheless, his threats were serious."

Hojo nodded. "True, true. We can't allow anyone to interfere. Get me in contact with the Turks. I think it may be time to arrange a tragic car accident for our poor dear General Caraway."

Hojo grinned and walked away. Gast nodded and looked at his check pad again, then down at the two boys lying beneath his feet.

Squall fired off another round, taking out another terrorist dummy. His finger hovered on the trigger, pausing as an innocent popped up. Seifer fired off a burst, taking out two terrorists consecutively. A terrorist popped up directly in Squall's line of fire. An easy shot. However, a dummy of a woman holding a baby instantly popped up in front of the terrorist, a human shield scenario.

Squall held, then looked in surprise as the woman. her baby and the terrorist were shot to clay pieces by a round of bullets. Squall looked at Seifer, his barrel smoking. Seifer just kept firing at the other targets.

Gast smiled and began to tick the boxes.

__

Seifer. Juvenile, blonde hair, age 9. Targeting;...............................Excellent.4

Addendum; Killer Instinct – Superb.4 4 4

Squall. Juvenile, brown hair, age 8. Targeting;...............................Excellent.4

Addendum; Failed human shield scenario. Emotions may prove a hindrance to this one's training.

* * * * * 

~Dreamworld End~ 

* * * * *

Rinoa and Squall awoke. Squall's eyes shot open, and he sprang up as he realized where he was and what he was supposed to do. He moved over to Rinoa and tried to help her up.

She was groggy but wide-eyed. Pushing herself up by her hands, she was astounded and confused as to what had just happened. Had they _both _had the same dream, or was it just herself.

__

The children. The two boys. One of them was Squall, but without the scar. And the other was....oh my god, Seifer?!? Those men, they were Hojo and Gast of Shin-Ra. And my....my....my father. Did Shin-Ra kill him? I thought it was an accident?

"What was that?" asked Rinoa, standing up.

"No time to explain." said Squall, jumping down from the locomotive. He held out his arms and caught Rinoa as she jumped down after him. "We don't have time to try to figure this out!"

"Too right." Rinoa nodded, standing on her own two feet. "Let's get to Sector 7!"

The two of them ran through the train graveyard as fast as they could. Not running for their lives, but the lives of everyone else in Sector 7. They ran out of the graveyard and clear across the Sector 7 station without a second's stopping. They ran into the clear space in front of the pillar, where a crowd was gathering.

This was where they had first met.

"We made it!" Rinoa exclaimed. "What's going on?!"

"It's Shin-Ra!" shouted a man in the crowd. "They're doing something up on the pillar! The Midgar Owls are fighting 'em, but they can't hold out for much longer!"

"Shin-Ra's going to collapse the plate!" Squall shouted. "You have to get out of here, all of you!"

"Squall!! Rinoa!!!" shouted a voice. Xu moved towards them on her crutch as fast as she could, with Quistis coming up behind her. "Zell, Zone and Watts are up there!"

"You have to get as many people as you can out of here!" Rinoa ordered. "Evacuate everyone you can!"

"I can lead them to Sector 5!" Quistis stated.

They all nodded and split as Squall and Rinoa made for the pillar, whilst Quistis and Xu began to evacuate as many people as they could, trying to get them out as fast as they could whilst trying to avoid a stampede. They knew that given the size of the plate, the most amount of people they could even hope to evacuate was 10%. They ushered them out, shouting at them all to keep moving. They all ran, carrying their children and leaving their homes behind, forever.

***

Squall and Rinoa bounded up the steps two at a time. The sounds of gunfire and shouting were getting louder as they got higher. They kept running, not even a second to waste.

As they ran up the stairs, Squall almost tripped over a figure lying against the rail.

"Oh my god..." Rinoa gasped. "Watts."

There was blood oozing through his shirt, indicating several places he'd been shot. The grim crimson trail marked where he had been pushed down the steps after they shot him.

"It's....not as bad as it looks....sir, ma'am." Watts panted, trying a smile. "It doesn't even hurt.....in fact, I can't even feel a thing....I must be getting better, huh?....just give me a few days."

"Watts...." said Rinoa, welling up.

"S'ok..." Watts panted. "S'alright....gathering information was my specialty, ma'am....but it was good to fight with my team-mates.....one...last......."

Watts fell silent, and only the sound of the wind was heard. Rinoa hung her head, then stood and looked at Squall. He nodded, and they ran on again. When they were almost at their destination, they found another body, lying on the steps. Zone.

"Not....dead yet....princess...." gasped Zone. "Zell's...still up there. He needs.....help."

"That's why we're here." said Squall. "We have to try to stop this."

"We won't let your sacrifice be in vain, Zone." said Rinoa. "Someday, Shin-Ra _will_ fall."

"Stop talking.......like I'm gonna die...." said Zone, clutching his chest and attempting a grin. Rinoa tried to smile with him, but the sadness in her heart was just too much.

"Hey you...." Zone croaked, looking at Squall. "Squall...Ouch...Take care of Rinoa, will you? I'll kill you if you let anything happen to her."

Squall nodded, and together, he and Rinoa began the final run up the last few steps. They reached the top, and sure enough, there was Zell, pounding away at the attacking Shin-Ra forces. He punched one soldier square in the jaw, then leapt over the back of another, grabbing him by the collar and flinging him into a third. They both toppled over the rails to their doom.

"Rinoa! Squall! Glad you came!" he shouted, somersaulting and uppercutting one last soldier with a devastating kick to the chin. "You know about the plate, right?! Those bastards have gone too far this time!"

"Heads up!" Rinoa shouted. "Chopper inbound!"

At this, a Shin-Ra helicopter floated in from out of nowhere and hovered above them. A hatch in the side opened, and out stepped Reno. He glanced down at the trio, grinned and hopped down, landing in front of them.

"Well well, it's an all-star cast." he chuckled. "Let's see. Dincht! Splendid fellow! How the hell have you been then? Still copying moves from cartoons, I see."

Zell cracked his knuckles and growled. Reno turned and looked at Squall.

"Hmmm, Quistis' boyfriend." he mused. "Small world after all, huh? She sends her regards, by the way. Oops, I'm getting ahead of myself."

Squall drew his gunblade, as Reno finally faced Rinoa. He lowered his shades a little and looked at her with his naked eyes.

"Wow." he feigned. "Your file photo certainly does _not _do you justice. It's not every resistance movement that has a total _babe _for a leader."

Rinoa adjusted her pinwheel, aiming it at Reno's head.

"Touch that control panel and you're a dead man." she warned.

Reno turned around and looked at it, then back at Rinoa. "That control panel? Don't worry about it. I won't be touching that, I swear."

He reached into his pocket and took out a remote control, grinning the whole time. "This remote on the other hand, will start a countdown that not even a Shin-Ra executive can stop. See, if I push this button, you lose. If I don't get to, we lose."

The trio stood braced for action, ready for a fight to save Sector 7 that would never come. Reno held the remote out in his hands like a deadly weapon, ready to wipe out Sector 7 at the order. He glanced down at his watch.

"It's time."

Reno dashed to the side of the pillar before any of them could move, leaping off. As he vaulted over the side, he clicked the remote button as he did, and the countdown began. It gave Sector 7 a minute to live.

"Son of a bitch!!!!!" roared Zell.

"Squall! Can't you stop it?!?" Rinoa pleaded.

Squall looked at the control panel, trying to figure its ins and outs. "I don't know." he said honestly. "Maybe, if I had a few hours, I could. But we've barely got 40 seconds."

"That's right." shouted a voice, and a Shin-Ra helicopter floated into view once more, Reno in the co-pilot seat. Raijin and Fujin were nowhere to be seen. The Turk who addressed them was tall with long dark hair. Squall recognized him as the leader, Tseng.

"You'll have a hard time disarming that one." he continued "It'll blow the second some stupid bastard touches it."

"Tseng!" Squall shouted in recognition. "Stop this!"

"Orders are orders, Squall." Tseng replied. "I thought you of all people should understand that. Be thankful I'm at least giving you the next 35 seconds to try to save yourselves. All I can really do for an old comrade."

"What does he mean by that?" Zell demanded.

"Rinoa! Squall! Get out of here!" shouted a familiar voice from the helicopter. Quistis managed to stick her head out the window, despite unseen hands holding her back. "You have to try to escape! Xu and I tried to get as many people out as we could, but you have to save yourselves!"

At this, Tseng slapped her back into the helicopter. Hard.

"Let's go." he said to the pilot, who nodded and eased the throttle forward, taking it clear of the pillar, which exploded, shooting rubble off in all directions. Squall, Rinoa and Zell ducked for cover as chunks of flaming steel and concrete whooshed past their heads.

"We have to get out of here!" Rinoa screamed.

"Exit stage left!" Zell added, grabbing hold of a thick cable. Squall and Rinoa scrambled over towards him.

"What's your idea?" Rinoa shouted above the noise of the explosions.

"Ummmm....."

"Hang on." Squall ordered, drawing Griever. Rinoa stood up on the rails and gripped the cable tightly. Zell did likewise, but from a lower point. Squall grabbed onto it too, and slashed through the bottom half with the gunblade. The cable cut, and they flew clear across the slums, holding on to the cable for dear life, accompanied by Zell's screaming.

***

The people of Area 7 thought it was an earthquake at first, which was soon followed by a strange feeling of unbalancing. Before they knew it, gravity had gone haywire as the entire plate fell to earth. They barely even had time to register what had happened to them, let alone the fact that they had just crushed hundreds of homes and families.

From his office where he stood, staring out the window, President Shin-Ra _did_ know. He just didn't care. He walked back to his desk, smiling quietly to himself as he turned up the volume on the already far too loud classical music.

***

They lay were they had come to ground, choking and coughing in the dust.

Squall stood up dizzily, coughing and dusting himself off. Rinoa held up her am, which he took, helping her up. They looked back in horror. It was the playground where they had talked not more than a few hours ago, completely demolished. Shards of debris protruded grotesquely from the Sector 7 gateway, leading whoever saw then to feel pity for all the lost souls, twisted, mangled and flattened behind it. Rinoa walked forward slowly.

"....Zone..." she said quietly. "...Watts..."

Squall appeared beside her, as did Zell, not quite dusted off.

"Damn Shin-Ra have gone too far this time!" he growled. "That's it! I can't take it anymore! If they think they're gonna start bringing down plates on us, then we're gonna do whatever it takes to bring them down! The gloves are coming off!!!"

"Zell.....please...." said Rinoa quietly.

"Are you okay?" Squall asked.

"It's all gone..." sighed Rinoa, sniffling a little. "..It's......friends, loved ones, homes, children, people...it's all dust..."

Squall looked away from her and at Zell. "You got any idea's?" he asked.

"Just one." replied Zell. "We take President Shin-Ra and force him through a meat-grinder."

"Zell..." said Rinoa, standing up. "That's not much of a plan."

"...Feet-first?" offered Zell.

"Let's try to get to Sector 5." suggested Squall. "There's somebody there who can help us."

***

After a quiet walk, the trio arrived at Quistis' house. This was where the people of Sector 7 had been taken. They were in the immense garden. There was crying, sobbing, some sighs of relief, joy at finding a loved one also there, and wails of those who heard their loved ones were left behind. Adel walked among them, trying to help and to heal as many as she could. Xu was with her, also helping.

"Xu." said Rinoa, walking up to her. "What happened?"

"The Shin-Ra came." explained Xu. "They threatened to open fire on the crowd if Quistis didn't come willingly. So, she went with them. Back to their headquarters."

"What do they want her for?" Rinoa asked.

"She's a Sorceress." Adel explained, turning to her. "As I once was."

"Sorceresses are a myth, like vampires and the like." Rinoa replied. "I don't believe in them."

"We keep our numbers small, and live out of the spotlight of the world. That is how we survive." said Adel.

"...So, Quistis is a Sorceress..." mused Squall.

"Damn, no wonder she could read our minds." stated Zell.

"And Shin-Ra want her for why?!" Rinoa wanted to know.

"Why else?" said Adel. "To experiment on her."

"We've got to save her!!" shouted Zell. everyone looked at him, as if for a justification that was not necessary. "She helped everyone here escape the plate. She risked herself to save us all, and it's only right that we try to save her."

"Are you suggesting a raid on Shin-Ra headquarters?" exclaimed Xu.

"Abso-frickinfrackin'-lutely!" said Zell.

Rinoa seemed to think about it for a while. "They'll never expect it...." she mused. "They won't see us coming. We could be in and out, and they won't know about it."

"And while we're there, we could raise a little hell."

"Squall, what do you think?" Rinoa asked.

He could tell from the way she was looking at him that she knew he was the little boy they had seen in the dream. He didn't like the idea of going back to that place. The last time he had tried to escape, it had been a total failure. But it would be different this time. He was stronger. They had made him stronger. He could fight them, he knew it.

"What are your orders?" he asked.

Rinoa grinned. "Xu, you gonna be okay here by yourself?"

"Yeah." replied Xu. "Adel and I will look after these people. Be careful, okay?"

"We'll be back before you know it!" grinned "What do you say, Rin?"

"We're going after Shin-Ra." said Rinoa, adjusting her Pinwheel. "Lock and Load."

With that, the trio nodded to each other, and headed for Sector 6, and on to Shin-Ra. It was payback time.

* * * * * * * *


	6. The Tower That Ate People

Chapter VI; "The Tower That Ate People"

They stood in front of the Shin-Ra building, anticipating the monumental task that lay ahead of them. Squall looked up at the building, a massive shrine to capitalism gone insane. It was a temple of greed. And here they were, like three Greek heroes, ready to scale the dark tower to rescue the princess.

"Squall...," said Rinoa, placing her hand on his arm as he stepped forward. "Nobody has ever done anything like this before."

Squall looked back at her. "That's why it's going to work." he said, and clicked the safety off Griever.

Despite the long climb up the wire, they were still in perfect shape. Squall had climbed up through the debris with Rinoa on his back, without even a shortness of breath to show for it.

"Hey, you ougtha know this building well?" Zell asked.

"Yes." nodded Squall. "This was where they trained me. Every floor above the 60th have a special keycard system, for enhanced security."

"You know how to get us past that, right?" Rinoa asked.

Squall nodded.

"So what are we waiting for?!?" shouted Zell. "Let's bust on in there! LET'S GET IT ON!!!!"

As Zell charged for the building, Squall's fist shot out and grabbed him. Zell gagged on his collar as Squall yanked him back.

"Zell, when they were handing out the brains, did you happen to get yours on special discount?" Rinoa asked. "You run in there like that and they'll fill you so full of lead they could sharpen your head and use you as a pencil."

"Alright, alright." said Zell, sitting up and rubbing his head from where he had fallen. "So what do we do?"

"We find out where they're keeping Quistis, then we try to get there as quietly as possible." Rinoa suggested. "Squall, can you get us in there?"

Squall nodded and walked forward. Rinoa and Zell followed behind him, through the main doors of the lobby. The lobby didn't reflect the greed upon which Shin-Ra had built it's empire. It was pastels and marble everywhere. Some new stalls showed Mako-powered Shin-Ra vehicles that would be available on the market soon enough.

Squall walked over to the reception.

"Can I help you, sir?" the young girl with glasses a size too big for her head asked.

"Hello, we're from the Junon branch." Squall introduced. "We were briefed that Hojo's new sample had been captured, and we were ordered here to assist his research."

"Your names?" the receptionist asked.

"Huntington." said Squall. "Ethan Huntington. With me is Miss Raven Darkholme.." (He indicated Rinoa.) ".. and Doctor Hank McCoy." he pointed his thumb at Zell.

"I'm sorry, Mister Huntington." apologised the receptionist. "But I'm afraid I can't allow you up there."

"On whose orders?" Squall asked.

"Scarlet's."

"Scarlet is the one who sent for us." continued Squall.

"Even so, sir. I'm afraid I–"

"Listen kid." Squall snapped. "You sit here and be unhelpful, but we were ordered here A.S.A.P. and we don't have time to stand around while you try to make excuses for your incompetence. Now you let us through there, that's a direct order."

"Sir...I..."

Rinoa pulled out a black notebook and clicked the end of a pen. "What's your name, and the name of your supervisor?" she asked. The receptionist tried not to meet her stern gaze. "Your name, and your boss?" Rinoa repeated.

"It's okay, go right through." waved the receptionist.

"Thank you." said Rinoa, putting the book and pen away. The trio walked towards the elevator. Squall pressed the 'call' button and they waiting.

"Excellent work, Mister Huntington." Rinoa grinned, nudging him.

"Whatever."

The lift arrived and the doors opened with a "Bing!" noise. Just as Rinoa and Zell were about to step inside, Squall grabbed them and pulled them into the fire escape stairwell.

"What the heck are you doin'?" Zell asked as Squall sealed the door behind them.

"Anyone can tell we look suspicious." explained Squall. "We don't want anyone waiting for us when those lift doors open."

"Good point." remarked Rinoa, nodding to Zell.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Zell said, throwing up his hands. "You want us to run up 140 flights of stairs?!?"

"Yes." replied Squall, honestly. "It's not impossible. I had to do it all the time in training."

"How old were you?" Rinoa asked. Squall didn't reply and began to check his boots were tied properly. Satisfied, he placed on foot on the first step and looked up.

"Eight years old and onwards." he said, and took off, bounding up the steps two at a time. Rinoa and Zell exchanged glances and followed, running up behind him. They weren't able to keep his pace, but they were able to keep up.

"Question from the crowd?" Zell asked as he rounded the next flight.

"What is it?" Rinoa asked, just ahead of him.

"Why the heck are we doing this?"

"Quistis needs our help." Rinoa replied. "We can't just sit back and do nothing. Even if we haven't known her that long, we know that she's a Sorceress."

"I didn't even know Sorceresses existed." said Zell, now shoulder-to-shoulder with Rinoa and pulling ahead.

"This isn't a race, Zell." she said, and continued. "But nevertheless, Sorceress or no, we've still got to help her. Besides, she's Squall's friend."

"I didn't even think Squall _had _any friends." Zell joked.

"Whatever." came Squall's voice from the upper flight.

"I guess even Squall will fight for somebody else." mused Zell, pulling ahead of Rinoa. "I just didn't think it was very characteristic of him, that's all."

__

What do they want from me? Squall thought. _Would they rather I just sat idly by and leave someone like Quistis in danger? If I done nothing they'd complain and force me to go help her. Now I'm voluntarily helping her, and they're still complaining about me. Give me a break._

"Hey Squall, if you feel tired and want to call a break, just say the word, man." Zell offered in a singsong tone.

"Keep going." Squall replied.

"Are we almost there?" Rinoa asked.

"Nope."

They ran on in silence for the next few minutes. Zell stopped, gasping for breath. Rinoa stopped beside him and shouted up for Squall. He skidded to a halt and started back down, having been two flights above them.

"What's the matter, Zell?" Rinoa asked, panting and smiling. "I thought you had SeeD training."

"I...did.." Zell gasped. "...but I dunno what they put in Squall's breakfast cereal....because we never had to do....anything....like this."

"What makes you think you and I had the same training?"

They ran on in silence for a few more minutes, before reaching the top floor. Squall moved silently close to the fire door and lifted the locking hatch. He turned back and nodded to the others, then slipped quietly out. 

"Who's there?!" called the guard, sure he heard something.

There was no verbal reply. Squall Leonhart came running out of nowhere at the speed of light. As the guard fumbled with his aim, Squall leapt forward and hooked his leg around the guard's neck. One sickeningly loud snap! and it was over before it had begun.

Zell and Rinoa stepped out of the stairwell and walked over to Squall, who was fishing for the access card in the guard's uniform.

"Alright." said Zell. "So you didn't get the same training as me. And if you had to climb those stairs all the time, I'm glad I didn't!"

"Let's go." said Squall, walking over to the glass elevator. Rinoa and Zell followed, wondering what they would face on the upper levels.

***

As soon as the elevator doors opened, the trio rushed out and took cover behind a nearby wall. Squall stuck his head around the corner, taking in the view.

"The guards are moving around between those podiums." he whispered to the others. "Their line of site is blocked roughly every 2.7 seconds. That'll be our chance."

Rinoa poked her head around the corner. "Hmmm, looks tricky." she mused. "You want to try it solo, Squall?"

"Maybe if we take them all out at once." said Squall. "Three of them and three of us..."

Now Zell poked his head around the corner, giving them a comic appearance. "Looks risky." he stated.

Squall stuffed him and Rinoa back behind the wall.

"We'll go on my signal." he ordered.

"What's the signal?" Zell asked.

Squall burst into speed, dashing around the corner and running straight for the first guard, who fumbled with his gun. Squall dealt him a flying kick and sent him smacking into the wall.

"So that's the signal." said Zell.

Rinoa clipped her pinwheel and fired before the second guard could take Squall out. He nodded back in thanks. Sensing the odds were not in his favour, the final guard chose to flee, running right past Squall and Rinoa towards the elevator. He ran to fast too stop himself when Zell flipped round the corner and brought his foot crashing up into guard's face.

"Now this is fun, I like this." said Zell, grinning.

"Let's get a move on." said Squall. "Quistis doesn't have much time."

They nodded and moved towards the 61st floor.

***

Quistis leaned with her back against the Perspex safety glass of the tube that entombed her. Technicians buzzed about the lab, keeping a safe distance from Hojo, Gast and Odine, the unholy trinity, as they prepared for whatever experiments were in mind for the unfortunate Sorceress.

Quistis sighed internally, and noticed the light and shadow within the tube alter slightly. Someone was leaning against the glass behind her. She wanted to have her glasses back, now. They'd confiscated them, in case she broke them and used them to try to hurt anyone. Or herself.

"Feel like pleading for your life?" came Gast's voice from behind her, tinny over the static of the com-line between inside and outside the tube.

"Not as much as you feel like hearing it." Quistis replied coldly. She still sat with her back to him.

"How does it feel to be back in the Tube, Quistis?" he asked, deliberately trying to drag sinister memories to the surface. "Just like old times, huh?"

Quistis closed her eyes and wished them away, then opened them and smiled. "Yes, just like old times. How's your tennis arm, Doctor Gast?"

Gast picked idly at the scar on his arm, from where a young Quistis Trepe had stabbed him in the elbow with his pen during one of her many escape attempts.

"It's fine, Quistis."

"Remind me to fix that then, when I get out of here."

Gast turned away and walked back to one of the many arcane machines, where Hojo was preparing something. "Ah," he said. "You say, _when_ you get out of here. We have taken every precaution, Miss Trepe, in ensuring that you are going to stay with us for a very long time."

Hojo nodded in agreement with Gast, but kept his eyes from Quistis. "We've been granted an extraordinary stroke of luck here." he said. "And we intend to take full advantage of it."

"Yes." said Odine, appearing from around a corner, numerous scientific calculations in hand. "For ze first time ve actually have two specimens with which to complete this experiment. Zere iz no time for us to lose."

Quistis sat bolt upright, then instantly faced the three doctors. "What do you mean second specimen?!" she demanded. "What are you talking about? You have another Sorceress here, what?" She smashed her fist against the unbreakable glass. "Tell me!"

Hojo ignored her. "We'll begin on schedule."

***

Squall stopped dead in his tracks as they entered the lounge. It was here, so many years ago that Adel had tried to rescue them. So, Hojo had tried to block his memories after all. Now they were starting to come back to him. Squall then began to wonder if he would get his memories back piece by piece or experience total recall. What if there were things he didn't want to remember?

"Quistis must be being held on one of the higher levels." Rinoa stated.

"We're going to need a keycard to get up there." said Squall. "My personal codes probably don't work, if Shin-Ra declared me legally dead a year ago, then they must have cancelled my codes too."

"Why did they think you were dead?" Rinoa asked. "Did something happen?"

"....I'll tell you about it later..." Squall trailed off.

Rinoa looked around.

"Where's Zell?" she asked.

Their spiky-haired tattooed compadre wasn't behind them. 

Squall and Rinoa split up and began to look around the lounge.

Squall's first instinct had been to check at the cafeteria, specifically the hot-dog section. He didn't really think Zell would actually stop for a hot-dog in a mission like this. Maybe he was just relieved to not find them there.

Rinoa found him, talking to someone over by the lift doors. Zell smiled and thanked them, and took what looked like a piece of card from them.

"Hey Rinoa." he greeted as she walked up to him. "Good news, I know how to get us up to where they're keeping Quistis."

"How so?" Rinoa asked.

"Well, I was thinking about Squall's tactics. Misdirection over confrontation and all that, so I just bluffed to some engineer guy that I was part of Shin-Ra's maintenance division. He told me there was work to be done up on the 66th floor, and he gave me this card. Pretty smart, huh?"

"Pretty smart." agreed Squall, appearing from behind them. "The only problem is, how are we supposed to know what floor Quistis is being held on?"

"Ah." said Zell, with the tone of voice of someone who has just discovered they're using a 200ft long bungee cord on a 100ft jump. "Well, why don't we head up anyway?" he offered. "Keep looking around each floor 'til we find a clue? Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

They nodded and stepped into the elevator. As their doors hissed shut, the doors to the other elevator whooshed open, and out stepped Tseng, Reno, Fujin and Raijin.

"You're pretty tense tonight, mon capi-tan." said Rude, grinning. "Worried about something."

"Keep your mouths shut and your eyes and ears open." Tseng ordered.

"And just what are we supposed to be looking for?" asked Reno.

"Hojo and the others asked for extra security for their experiment tonight. And with what's happened with Sector 7 and all lately, well, let's just say we're to keep our eyes out for anything out of the ordinary or anyone who looks suspicious. Or familiar...."

"UNWORTHY ASSIGNMENT!" snapped Fujin, not allowing her mood to betray her composure. "GLORIFIED SECURITY GUARDS."

"Agreed, Fujin." said Tseng. "But we still need to do it. We've finally gotten Quistis back first the first time in about a decade. We can't let anyone take her again."

"WAHAHAHAAAA!" Raijin laughed. "Don't want anyone stealing away your lady, do ya?"

Fujin promptly kicked him hard in the back of the knee.

***

As soon as the doors opened, Squall, Rinoa and Zell instantly ran for cover behind the closest corner. They'd arrived on the 66th floor, in just enough time to see the high-ranking executives begin their meeting.

"Wow." Rinoa gasped. "In all my time in the rebels, I never thought I'd make it this far. I'm actually deep inside the enemy's HQ."

"We gotta find out what they're talking about." Zell suggested. "Anyone got any ideas?"

Squall looked up and down the hall, then noticed the bulge of a vent snaking along the roof. It went from above the door to the men's room right to where the Conference Room was. He grinned.

"It's starting to come back to me now." said Squall. "The vents in this building. If you know the system, they'll take you wherever you want to go."

"And you know them, don't you?" said Rinoa, smiling as she followed him into the bathroom. Squall stood on one of the bowls and unhooked the ventilation duct's grille from it's housing. Zell stood guard as Squall pulled himself up and helped Rinoa up after him. Finally, Zell followed them up, making sure to click the cubicle to "engaged" first.

They crawled quietly through the vents, heading to the light source of the Conference Room. Zell made sure to keep his eyes low and his head pointed away from Rinoa's posterior. Finally, they lay peering down into the Conference Room below.

"Well well, an all-star cast." mused Rinoa. "President Shin-Ra..."

"I owe him a murder." Zell growled.

"Palmer, head of the space program, a fat lump of nothing at all." Rinoa went on. "Heideggar, an ugly big piece of bad news in an even uglier green suit. Mayor Vinzer Deling, I know him. And Scarlet, head of Weapon Development."

Rinoa frowned as she looked at Scarlet. Here was a woman who's entire career was dedicated to finding new ways for people to kill each other, and for her and Shin-Ra to make money out of death. That's what it was. Here was Rinoa, trying to help make the world a better and safer place, and here was Scarlet, making money out of the deaths of people by weapons created and supplied by her.

"Scarlet's been with Shin-Ra for a while, now." said Rinoa. "She probably joined round about when we were kids. She's like a piece of the furniture here."

"What, you mean she's been with them for a long time?" Zell asked.

"No, I mean because there probably isn't a man in this building who hasn't stretched out on her."

Zell tried not to laugh. Squall just continued to look down and spy on the meeting.

"The damage estimates for Sector 7 are pretty steep." Heideggar reported. "What with all the factories and investments in that area, we're looking at a cost of repair of over 10 Billion Gil. I propose–"

"We're not rebuilding." President Shin-Ra cut him off, lighting up a fat cigar.

"Sir?" said Palmer, asking for explanation.

"What do you mean, Shin-Ra?" Deling demanded.

"We're going to leave Sector 7 as it is." Shin-Ra clarified. "Let it stand as an example to all who would dare oppose us. Whether you are some lowly slum rebel, a Sorceress or even a traitor of the Generation; NeXus project, let it be known that nobody messes with us. As my own son so eloquently put it; 'We don't give any shit, we don't take any shit. Shin-Ra is _not_ in the shit business'."

There was a murmur of laughter from around the table, except from Deling.

"Why that!–" Zell almost blurted out before Rinoa clamped a hand firmly over his mouth and Squall "Sssh!"ed him.

"We need that money to re-start the Neo-Midgar plan." Shin-Ra continued.

"Then, that means, ....The Sorceresses?" Scarlet trailed off...

"Correct!" boomed Shin-Ra. "The Promised Land, and all it's power, the very power of the universe itself shall be ours. I want the Mako rates to be raised by 15% in every area."

Palmer clapped his hands together with glee. "Rate hike! Rate hike! And please include the Space Program as part of the budget, sir?!"

"No." said the President coldly, not looking at him. "Your Space Program is a joke, an embarrassment from a decade ago. The shuttle is in a state of decay, and you can't even get the co-operation of the only person in the world qualified to pilot it."

Palmer looked around nervously. "Um, he's not exactly eager...and threat of force doesn't seem to work against him..." 

"You don't have a good excuse, Palmer, so don't bother coming up with a bad one." said Scarlet, cutting him off to the amusement of the other executives.

"Heideggar and Scarlet will divide two thirds of the extra income from the rate increase." Shin-Ra explained his plan. "The rest will go towards the Turks and SeeD, for their part in our plan will be crucial. Two members of the Generation; NeXus project have already proved to be a waste to us. Leonhart is dead, turning traitor before he went, and our 'prize student' Almasy has _defected_, of all things!"

Zell noticed both Squall and Rinoa instantly reacted to the word "Almasy", but said nothing.

"The Turks are more than capable of handling any given situation that presents itself." stated Scarlet, proudly. "And Mister President, please remember that it was my idea to recruit members from SeeD straight into the Turks."

Shin-Ra nodded as he took a long drag on the cigar. Duly noted. 

"What about the people of this city." said Deling, speaking quietly, keeping his eyes low, away from everyone. "Indeed, the people of this very planet. Don't the people have a right to know?"

Heideggar laughed out loud. "How did you even get this job? The people will know what we want them to know."

"Heideggar is right." agreed Shin-Ra. "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence. They'll trust Shin-Ra, Inc. even more." 

Heidegger laughed again. "Ha ha ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from the Midgar Owls and rescued the entire _city_ from _ALL_ the heartless murdering rebel groups!"

"Would the world judge me harshly if I jumped down there and kicked his fat ass through the wall?" Zell whispered to Rinoa.

"No, but Shin-Ra Security would make you regret it for the rest of your life." Rinoa replied. "Both seconds of it."

They looked down again, at the sound of the Conference Room doors opening again. In strolled Hojo, grinning like a devil in a lab coat. Squall blinked in recognition. This was the devil of a scientist responsible for the mind-scan that had robbed Squall of his childhood memories. Rinoa shuddered. There was something about this thin, sinister man that sent a chill snaking through the bones of her spine. Even Zell was a little put off by his presence.

"Damn!" he hissed. "That's Hojo! Ten to one, he's the dude who's got Quistis. Five to one, what he's got planned for her ain't no picnic in the park."

"Then shut up, maybe he'll say where Quistis is." said Squall.

"Hojo." said Shin-Ra. "How's the experiment coming?"

"All is proceeding well." Hojo reported. "The second Sorceress has presented no trouble, and kept sedated in proper fashion. I must really commend SeeD on the ease of success with her capture. And the Turks timing in finally recapturing Quistis Trepe. Now we finally have two Sorceresses to begin the experiment."

"_Second_ Sorceress?!?" Zell echoed. "They have someone other than Quistis? Who could he be taking about?"

"Dunno." said Squall, shrugging. "They couldn't have captured Adel, and she isn't a Sorceress anymore. She gave her power to Quistis and became mortal so she could live..."

"You've had no problems with her?" Scarlet asked.

"None at all. Odine's cages keep her and Trepe's powers rendered impotent." said Hojo, smiling with crocodile teeth. "In fact, the most I've had from her is dirty looks at finally seeing me again. Far too polite to resort to language or threats."

"When will the experiment be initiated?" Heideggar asked. 

"As soon as I receive the Committee's approval, of course."

"Very well." said Shin-Ra, stubbing the cigar out. "Begin the transfer. We've waited this long, now that we have the opportunity, there's no sense in waiting any longer."

Hojo nodded, smiled, sniggered as if trying to hide a private joke, and left.

"The meeting is concluded." said the President, standing up. "That's all gentlemen, thank you. Thank you, gentlemen, that's all."

The executives stood and began to return to their respective departments, except for Scarlet, who paused briefly and stared up at the vent. Zell, Squall and Rinoa stared right back, the light from the Conference Room throwing shadows of the grille against their faces, illuminating them in a criss-cross manner. Although their eyes met, due to the scientific principles of bright lights in front of looking into a dark area, Scarlet couldn't see them, but all she had to go on was a strange feeling in her gut.

She just as quickly shrugged it off and returned to her business on other floors.

"What now?" Zell asked.

"I suggest we follow Hojo." said Rinoa.

"His lab is on the 67th floor." said Squall, another of his memories returning. "I know the way, come on."

Zell and Rinoa nodded, and followed him as they all crawled as quietly as possible through the vent.

***

"So, that was the Hojo I've heard so much about." mused Zell as the trio pulled themselves up a vertical shaft.

"Yeah." said Rinoa, briefly glancing down to make sure Zell's eyes were pointed in any direction other than upwards. "He's in charge of Shin-Ra's Science Division."

"I wouldn't call it science..." Squall said quietly.

Hojo passed quietly through the halls of floor 67, humming and thinking quietly to himself like a man strolling by the duck pond in a park on Sunday. As soon as the door to his lab slid shut neatly behind him, the hallway was filled with a peaceful silence. Until...

Several dents began to bulge out of nowhere on a vent plating, until a muffled voice could be heard. A new dent appearing with each word and the voice becoming clearer. "Get-Out-_Of_-_My_-_WAY_!!!" At that last word the plating finally flew out of it's housing, revealing the heavily booted of Zell Dincht, who dropped down neatly into the hallway. He held out his arms to catch Rinoa, only Squall leaped down, clear away from him. Rinoa let herself down gently and looked around.

"Wow, we made it this far." she said. "Luck's certainly smiling on us, tonight."

"Let's go." said Squall, and made for the lab door.

As soon as they entered, the three of them ducked for cover behind a stack of crates. There were a few Shin-Ra guards and many technicians all over the room, that was filled with tubes and samples and all manner of scientific devices. And in the centre of it all, Hojo, Gast and Odine.

"Holy Schla-_moly_!" Zell whispered to Squall. "It's the three unwise men. What are they up to."

Squall peeked through a gap in the crates. "I can't see very much." he reported. "There's one sentry on the left, two on the right. They're armed with five-five-sixers, and pineapple fragmentation grenades."

"Pretty funky stuff." said Zell. "Not even the President gets that kinda security. Whatever they're guarding has gotta be worth something big to them."

"I can't see what it is." said Squall. He squinted at the glass tube Hojo and Gast were standing in front of. All he could make out was a dark, black and violet shape. It seemed to be moving, but the distorted light against the tube and all the obstructions prevented him from being able to identify it.

"Well, whatever's good for them has to be bad for us." said Zell, making the logical assumption. "I'd suggest we find out what it is."

Squall nodded. "Just give it a minute. It's a bit crowded, the three of us could never take this room, no matter what we do."

Their patience was rewarded momentarily. Gast shouted out orders to the guards and technicians, who promptly cleared the room. Gast, himself, along with Odine and Hojo began to walk toward the lift for the upper floor. As the others went up, Hojo stopped and turned, and began to walk back towards the tube.

"Idiots." Squall, Rinoa and Zell heard him say, as Hojo flicked a switch to reverse the sleeping gas inside the tube. "She has to be _conscious_ or it won't work otherwise."

Satisfied, Hojo left and walked towards the lift. The trio emerged and began to walk towards the large tube, curiosity driving them toward the shape that had puzzled them s shortly ago.

"Oh my!" gasped Rinoa. "It's a woman! They're keeping a person held here!"

They rushed over to the tube and looked inside at the person lying on the floor. It was indeed a woman, with long jet-black hair that flowed neatly down to her waist. She wore a long dark purple gown, and her skin was pale like God's only dove.

"Hey, she looks a little like Rinoa..." Zell observed, but to Squall she was much more familiar than that.

Rinoa looked at Squall as he squinted, trying to remember who she was.

"I know her..." he said. "But from where?"

Suddenly, she began to stir, Hojo's sleeping gas fully dissipated. She sat up, pressing her hand to her forehead, trying to shake off the groggy feeling, her head fuzzy from all the sedation Hojo had put her through. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes of the blur. As the images sharpened into focus, she stared at the three strangers outside the tube. No, wait! Not strangers, not strangers at all. The girl in blue, she didn't recognise, but the other two, the boys.

By the breath of Hyne, it was miracle!

"Squall!" the woman yelled out suddenly, startling them. "Zell! How did you get here?! I've been looking for you so hard! Where are Seifer, Selphie and Irvine?"

__

Who? Zell wondered, not recalling any of the names. _What in the name of Zeus's butthole is going on?_

"Squall, Quistis, Zell." the woman continued. "Finally found you. All grown so much...and become so strong...I have waited for this day to come. And also feared this day would come. Is today a joyous day? Or and odious day? Where is Ellone!? Where is Adel?!"

"Hey, is this 20 Questions?" Zell blurted out. "This is definitely rating a 9.0 on my Weird Shit-O-Meter."

The woman turned her gaze to Squall, who was staring at her intently.

"Squall knows who I am." she said, staring back. "Look at me, Squall. You know who I am, look at my eyes, the recognition, the _memory_ is there, in my eyes."

Squall stared hard, squinting and trying to prise the memory free from the vaults of his mind.

"Who is she, Squall?" Rinoa asked, confused.

Squall's brow furrowed, and finally the wave of recognition washed over him. The woman, the Sorceress from his dream, the one who was with Adel and had stood up to Hojo. Yes, he knew her now. But it was more than that. She had told him to remember her eyes, and yes he did sense the presence of memories there. Memories from long before the dream...

Squall went from a look of concentration to a mixture of recognition and confusion. "E-...Edea?"

Before any of them could utter another world, the top of the tube that Edea was being held in slid open, and the floor began to raise, lifting her towards the upper floor and stealing her away from the trio.

"Dammit!" shouted Zell, pounding on the unbreakable glass.

"It took her upstairs!" said Rinoa. "Quick! There's another lift over there!"

***

"We will began in exactly 45 seconds!" announced Gast. The 68th floor was cleared of all unnecessary personnel, leaving only the three scientists to conduct the experiment. Quistis leaned against the safety glass of her tube, trying to see what they were doing. She heard a buzzing noise, and the floor in the tube next to her opened, revealing a second floor underneath that rose up. There was someone standing there, a woman with long dark hair wearing a violet/black garment. There was a buzzing in Quistis' head as she recognised instantly what she was. Another Sorceress. But not just any other Sorceress, Quistis recognised her from letters and pictures at home. It was her foster mother Adel's sister; Sorceress Edea.

"Edea?!" she gasped.

"Quistis!" Edea shouted. "We don't have much time! Whatever happens, you mustn't forget! Remember, do not forget who you are, who I am, and most importantly, where you, Squall and the others belong!"

"...Where we belong?" Quistis wondered.

"Activate!" ordered Hojo.

"Heads up!" came the voice of Zell. Hojo turned just in time to see the young fighter rushing towards him and bringing his feet up to deliver a crushing strike to the scientists jaw. Gast reached for the alarm switch, only for Rinoa's pinwheel to get there first, destroying it.

"You are too late!" shouted Odine, above the noise of the machines static hum building up and reaching a crescendo.

"Shut it down!" ordered Squall, as Quistis and Edea's stasis tubes began to fill with a brilliant light. "Shut it down now!" he yelled. 

"It's too late!" said Gast. "Once the transfer has begun, nothing can stop it!"

Squall stood in front of the stasis tubes. The light that filled them began to shift from white to alternating colours. Quistis a pinkish-orange, Edea's a dark purple. As the light washed over them, casting strange shadows throughout the lab, they could see the dark light from Edea's tube began to mix with Quistis'.

"What the hell is going on?!?" Zell cried.

"They're draining Edea's power into Quistis!" Rinoa gasped.

"That's right!" shouted Hojo, getting back on his feet. "This will give us an even more powerful Sorceress in Quistis, one Shin-Ra can control with ease. And there's nothing you can do to stop it!"

Squall stepped up to the tubes, drew his gunblade and began to swipe at the wires and the locking mechanisms. Gases began to rain out of them, coating the lab in a fine mist. The doors to the tube, helpless against the loss of hydraulic pressure, slid open with ease.

"...never thought of that before..." Hojo trailed off.

Squall and Rinoa rushed into Quistis tube while Zell went to Edea's aid. A light steam emanated from their bodies, as static light crackled over them slightly.

"Can you stand?" Zell asked, helping Edea up, who clutched at her forehead, using Zell to balance. Squall and Rinoa helped Quistis up, who seemed to have taken whatever had been done to her better than Edea.

"I'm fine." she said. "I can walk."

"Call ze Turks!" Odine shouted. ""Don't let them escape with the samples!" He reached for the alarm switch, only for a combat knife to fly through the air and bury itself in his right hand. He howled in agony, turned and saw the thrower, Squall.

"We're getting out of here." he said. "For good, this time. Let's go!"

"Hey wait, what about them?!" asked Zell. "We can't just leave those three stooges there, they might alert security!"

Rinoa looked around the lab and found exactly what she was looking for. "I have an idea." she said.

***

"You're pure evil, anyone ever tell you that?!" said Zell, grinning as the five of them ran through the halls of the upper floors of the Shin-Ra tower. Quistis was limping slightly, but could easily keep up. Squall led the way, Rinoa just behind him. Zell was helping Edea, still dizzy from her ordeal.

"Let's take the lift this time." said Squall. "Edea and Quistis are in no condition to handle those stairs."

"Hell, I'm the picture of health and I _still_ can't handle them." Zell joked. "They're not stairs, they're punishment."

"Squall." said Quistis, grabbing his arm. "I just wanted to thank you. Thank you all for coming to my aid. When Sector 7 fell, I feared the worst for you all. Thank you for coming to me. Thank you for surviving." Squall nodded, and looked around to make sure the coast was clear, and pressed the switch to open the lift doors. He ushered them inside and pressed the button for the ground floor. The lift began it's descent.

***

The mighty boots of Raijin of the Turks kicked the lab's door down. He stood back and allowed his superiors, Tseng, Reno and Rude to walk in first, He followed Fujin, and was just as amused as everyone else by the sight that greeted them.

Hojo was on a coat rack, held on by the collar of his white lab coat. Zell had been the one to put him there, but had pulled the coat's sleeves behind the scientists back and tied them there, so it gave him the appearance of a lunatic in a straight jacket. He didn't squirm or thrash about, just glared at the Turks angrily. "Get me down from here." he demanded coldly. Tseng was the only one not grinning, but it was probably due to some degree of effort on his part. He nodded to Fujin, who drew a blade from the folds of her black velvet jacket and cut Hojo down.

Reno and Rude stood in front of the stasis tube. Rude had his hands crossed, while Reno had his on his hips. Both were grinning at the sight of Gast and Odine, standing angrily in just their boxers, vests and socks.

Tseng stepped up and crossed his arms. "Teenagers." he muttered.

"I dunno." said Reno, permanently grinning. "Young people today."

***

Rinoa smiled, as she looked out through the glass lift shaft. She couldn't believe they'd made it. They'd snuck into the lion's den, stolen it's prized treasure and made it out without even alerting the beast. If Shin-Ra liked, they could consider it payback for Sector 7.

"Don't start smiling too much." she heard Squall say. "We're not out of the woods yet." They faced each other. "It's not that." she said. "I just can't believe we actually did it. If the Midgar Owls had just planned for months to try to pull something as daring as this off, we never could have done it." she blushed. "And, we owe it to you, Squall. We couldn't have done this without you."

"I was just doing my job." he said, not trying to be modest but trying to state facts. "Just following your orders."

"But you're not even being paid for this, silly." she giggled. "Don't worry, I won't tell people you did a selfless act out of the kindness of your heart. You've got a reputation to maintain, after all."

Squall tried to look somewhere else, but seeing as his gaze was only met by the smiles of Zell and Quistis, he just looked out the window instead, crossing his arms. Rinoa did the same.

"...Whatever." they said in unison. Squall looked at her as she smiled cheekily.

Suddenly, the lift ground to a stop. "The hell? The lift stuck!" said Zell, right before it jolted into life again, this time, moving upwards. "Hey, we're going up!" he said, still stating the obvious. Quistis tried pressing the buttons on the lift's control panel. "No response." she said. "Someone or something is controlling the lift!"

"Weapons!" Rinoa ordered, drawing her pinwheel. Squall drew his gunblade, and Zell got in a fighting stance. Quistis, relieved of her whip during her capture, charged up her power. Edea tried to concentrate hers, only to find with some degree of surprise that it wouldn't work.

The lift came to a stop on the 69th floor. As the lift doors slid open, they were greeted with the sight of a veritable army of SeeDs, Shin-Ra soldiers and the Turks at the front of the ensemble. The amount of guns and other assorted weapons pointed at them must have just barely scraped three figures.

"Sorry, wrong floor." Zell said to the militia in front of them, and reached for the button for the lift doors. He was stopped by the sound of dozens of triggers cocking. "Sheesh." he said as Tseng and the other Turks pulled them out and locked the handcuffs onto their writs. "We were only looking for the textiles and menswear departments."

***

They were led up the stairs, cloaked by a velvet rug into the President's Office on the 70th floor. Squall stood with handcuffs and legcuffs on, Zell and Rinoa on either side of him. Quistis and Edea were nowhere to be seen.

Shin-Ra security was scarce on this floor, but Squall and the others were in no position to escape. The Turks were here too, just to make doubly sure. They stood rigid, and saluted as the President entered.

"Stand and salute!" Tseng ordered. "President Numene Shin-Ra!"

"Helloooo, Numen." said Zell, casually. Everyone in the room glared at him.

"You have," Shin-Ra began, sitting down. "A very nasty habit of surviving." he sat forward, his hands crossed in front of his face. "Like a cockroach. You can try any method under the sun of trying to get rid of a cockroach. You can use bombs, poison, highly sophisticated weapons and equipment, but at the end of it all, the roach will survive and you will _still_ have a roach problem. In the end, there really is only one effective way to rid yourself of a cockroach. And how is that, Tseng?"

"You step on it, sir."

"Correct." Sin-Ra continued. "You don't do anything fancy, you just put the thing out of your misery once and for all."

"We stopped your little plan!" Rinoa blurted out, interrupting him. Shin-Ra stared at her. "That's right." she said. "Whatever you were trying to do to Quistis and that other Sorceress, Edea, we stopped it. And we bust your scientists lab up pretty bad, so don't even think of trying it again."

Shin-Ra smiled. "Fighting words. I'd expect little less from a self-titled 'Resistance Fighter' anyway. A fighting woman, that you are." One of his aides then whispered something in his ear. "But what you don't seem to understand, is that the procedure was a complete success. The only thing you were successful in was giving Edea Kramer a slight dose of amnesia, a side-effect of the procedure."

"What the hell were you people doing?" Squall demanded.

Shin-Ra smiled. "Perhaps you are aware that Sorceresses are also known as 'Descendant's of Hyne'. The story was that a Supreme Being named Hyne divided up her power and gave pieces of it to an order of women who followed her. These women became the first Sorceresses. As the centuries drove on, Sorceresses either died or had children, spawning other Sorceresses. However, the stories go on to say that the Sorceresses numbers steadily decreased throughout the centuries. It was discovered that a Sorceress passes on her powers, either voluntarily in life or through death. This is why the numbers became so few, but the few Sorceresses that are around today are extremely powerful because of this. It was believed that Edea Kramer and Adel were the last two, that is, until we found Quistis."

__

What a lie. Squall thought. _I know all about the other, the one you found at Nibelheim and tried to control._

Shin-Ra went on. "They say that Sorceresses knew the way to the fabled 'Promised Land'. It's been said the Promised Land is very fertile, and if that is so..."

"Then it's abundant with Mako." said Rinoa, finishing for him. "Correct." said the President. "Exactly. That is why our money sucking Mako Reactor is a necessity. The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shin-Ra's new glory..."

"Where do the Sorceresses figure in all this?" Squall asked.

"The Promised Land is only one half of the project." said Shin-Ra. "You'll remember Hyne divided up her power, but now that there are few Sorceresses left, if we can control the process by which the powers are passed on, until only one remains, then we will have a new supreme being, one with the ultimate power of Hyne, that we can control."

"You're an idiot!" shouted Rinoa. "Control of power is an illusion, anyone knows that. You've already raped the world to it's limits, you can't rape the laws of nature too!"

"Says who?" said Shin-Ra. "Just watch. In the meantime, this meeting is adjourned."

The Turks began to take them away, back to the cells.

"Son of a bitch!" Zell shouted. "Just wait 'til I get outta here! I'm gonna make you _swallow_ that cushy fat desk of yours!"

"If you need anything else...," said Shin-Ra, as the Turks led the two rebels and the traitor away. "...talk to my secretary."

***

As they were led down the halls to the prison cells on floor 68, Rinoa struggled as she saw Squall being taken in another direction. "Hey!" she shouted, breaking free of the guards. "Hey! Where are you taking him?! Squall? Squall!!!"

"I'll be alright." said Squall. "They probably just want to find out what I know. They won't kill me, not while they still think I could be useful to them. Don't worry."

"I _am_ worried!" she said, looking up into his eyes.

"I'll come back." he said, as he was led away. "I made a promise, remember?"

Rinoa nodded sadly as Squall was led away from her, and she was taken to the cells.

Rinoa looked at the two rows of sealed doors. Two were occupied, presumably by Zell, Quistis and Edea. The door in the middle was wide open, awaiting her.

"Don't even think about escaping this time." Tseng said as he removed her restraints. "These cells were designed specially by Gast and Odine. They're Sorceress-proof. No magic will work inside them, and no matter what you try from the outside, there isn't a spell that can get through it. Not even a gunblade could put a hole in these cells."

"Then I'll be nice and safe in here won't I?" Rinoa said grimly as she stepped through and the door slid shut and locked behind her. "Cozy."

***

Squall tugged faintly at the restraints, which bound his wrists and ankles, testing them. They were pretty secure. He sighed internally and stared up at the ceiling, choiceless. The bright surgery lights in his face practically blinded him, though. He was lying, shirtless, spread-eagled on some time of mechanical slab, like a bed of some sort. He had never seen a device like this, but it was okay. He already knew what it was for. He could hear voices when he came in. Some Turks and some additional security measures. Hojo was nowhere to be seen, but Gast and Odine were here, dressed of course.

Eventually, the bed was raised from horizontal to vertical. _Here we go_, Squall thought.

The room seemed to buzz with the static hum of built-up electricity. "So, you're ready to begin?" said Gast, scratching his thin beard. "You were pretty daring coming this far, but you should have learned by now that nobody messes with the Shin-Ra. Everyone in Sector 7, and all your fellow resistance groups are living proof of that. Or should that be, 'dead proof'?"

"...Whatever." Squall dismissed.

"You're here because we're curious about your life story, Mister Leonhart." Gast explained. "You came to stop the transfer between Edea and Quistis awfully quickly. We're not fools, you must have known. Either someone at Shin-Ra was leaking to your little rebel group or you know more about Sorceresses and the Promised Land than you like to let on."

"I was just trying to help a friend." said Squall.

"An easy lie." said Odine from across the room. "But not a believable one."

"You're part of the Generation; NeXus project, Squall." Gast continued. "We trained you and the others to be the greatest soldiers in the world in every possible conceivable detail."

"Even if I am _defective_, right?" Squall said, spitting the word back at them.

"Not everyone can be like Seifer Almasy, Squall." said Gast. "You came pretty close, but alas, yes, you were defective."

"Quick reminder." said Squall. "Have you checked whose side Seifer is on lately?"

"Yes." said Odine. "What we are eager to find out iz why he has taken zis course."

"And to do that, we need to hear your story." said Gast. "So you're going to talk, and we're going to listen to all you have to say about SeeD, Sorceresses, The Promised Land, Generation; NeXus, Seifer Almasy and Nibelheim."

"Yeah, well you also trained me to be incredibly resistant to torture, so let's just get it over with and get this show on the road." said Squall, getting ready. "I don't have to tell you anything."

"Very well." said Gast. "You'll give in, I know it. But a word of warning, give in, and the girls life is mine."

__

Rinoa... Squall thought.

"Begin." ordered Gast, and Odine flicked the switch that sent waves of electricity rushing through the metal bed and Squall's body.

***

A long time later, Rinoa was kneeling in front of the cell door, trying to get at part of the locking mechanism with her fingers. She reached in and instantly drew her hand back, shocked and sucked the pain from her finger. _What I need is a hairpin_, she thought. _I knew I should have worn my hair up._

Then she heard the screaming, echoing down the halls. The sound of someone in terrible pain.

"Squall..." she gasped.

"They're torturing him." she heard Quistis say. So, at least the cells weren't _completely_ soundproofed. At least that was one thing. "Why?" Rinoa asked, sitting against the wall so as to be audible. "What are they looking from him?"

"I don't know." said Quistis. "Probably stuff about the Promised Land. Probably stuff about me and my kind." Rinoa scratched her head. "It's not fair what they've done to him. For most of his life, too. You and him, and Adel and the others."

"How do you know about that?" Quistis asked. "Oh, I guess he told you."

__

Something like that, thought Rinoa, remembering the dreams. "So what about you?" she asked. "What's your story?"

"A long one." Quistis replied. Rinoa thumped the heavy door. "Well, I'm not going anywhere, so I'm all ears. So, you're a Sorceress, huh? One of the last, I hear."

"Yeah." said Quistis, lying down on the thin mattress of her bunk. "Adel and Edea used to be the only two around. Adel, my mother, she used to have difficulty controlling her powers. Fortunately, she had Edea to show her the right path. But, Shin-Ra seemed to know about them, and the also knew about the legend of the Sorceresses, and if their power was brought back into one person again there could be a new Supreme Being. The legend says that that Supreme Being would open the doors to the Promised Land, a fertile and peaceful place."

"And that's why Shin-Ra want a Supreme Being they can control." Rinoa mused. "So, you're a Sorceress, you're supposed to know the way. Where is this Promised Land? And where did you figure in all of this?"

"I don't know where the Promised Land is." replied Quistis. "Only that someday, I'm supposed to find it. As for where I figure in all of this, well. I was born a Sorceress. I don't remember where it was that I was born, either. When I think really far back to my childhood, I remember a place with beautiful sunsets and red rocks. That's about it. I was a special child, seeing as my birth mother, whoever she was, wasn't a Sorceress, so I must have been some kind of fluke of nature. Or, just a very special person."

"And then Shin-Ra came and kidnapped you." said Rinoa, understanding. "They wanted you to be that Supreme Being they could control."

"They figured Adel and Edea would come to rescue me, then SeeD would capture them and transfer their powers into me. But Adel and Edea knew better than to let that happen. So, Adel came looking for the other children, and me and Edea stayed, wherever _there_ was. I'm sure you know the story of Adel and I by now."

"Yeah." said Rinoa. "But what about Edea?"

"What about her?"

"Well, her powers went into you, right?" said Rinoa. "Shin-Ra's plan worked, you got Adel and Edea's powers, but you don't exactly look like a Supreme Being to me. No offence."

"None taken." said Quistis, shrugging her shoulders. She heard Rinoa pacing up and down her cell. "So that must mean..." "It must mean there's at least one more Sorceress out there." Quistis finished for her. "I honestly don't know if that's a good or a bad thing..."

Zell Dincht shadowboxed the walls, dancing and shifting his weight from foot to foot, throwing kicks and uppercuts into the air. He stopped. placed his hands on his hips and looked at the floor. "You've really landed yourself in a mess here, Zelly boy." he said to himself. "Well, we've been in trickier situations than this. Ummmm, wait, no we haven't. Well, if we manage to actually somehow get out of here, then if another bad thing happens, at least we _will_ have been in trickier situations. If anyone asks, I'll cite this as precedent."

He leaned against the wall, slid down and sat on the floor. "Sheesh." he sighed. "I'm talking to myself now. Well, that's no bad thing, anything to worry about. It's when _yourself_ starts talking _back_, then you _really_ need to start worrying. Oh well, stuck in a Shin-Ra prison cell, right in heart of the enemy's HQ."

He looked over at the sleeping form of Edea and sighed. "Don't worry." he said. "If I think you're talking too much, I'll tell you, so just keep going." Edea remained sleeping soundly. "Rats. I'm gonna have a beard by the time I get out of here. You, Quistis and Rinoa too if it's the timeframe I've got in mind."

After some time, Edea finally stirred and awoke. "We are still imprisoned?" she asked, groggily.

"No, I just re-decorated my bedroom a little." Zell said sarcastically. "A little Spartan, sure, but Rinoa kept telling me that the grey look is _IN_, this summer."

Edea smiled. "Always so sarcastic." Zell looked at her. "What are you talking about? We never even met before tonight."

"On the contrary, Zell." said Edea, smiling faintly. "I've known you since you were born. I knew your mother and your father."

"I never saw you in Corel."

"Not surprising, I was never in Corel." Edea replied.

"So what are you talking about?" Zell asked, slightly frustrated.

"I wish I could tell you more." said Edea. "But my memory has become clouded since the transfer. There are things I know, and things I don't. I need time, time to re-build my memories. Then I can tell you all everything."

"Great." said Zell, and sighed again.

"In there." came a muffled voice from outside Rinoa's door. Rinoa turned and saw the door open, and Squall was dragged in by two SeeDs, his head hung low, and steam rising from his body.

"I feel terrible." he said, looking at her, and they dragged him over to the bed. "They didn't even ask me any questions."

The SeeDs said nothing and left, leaving the two alone. Rinoa immediately tried to attend to Squall. He looked like whatever he'd been through was rough. "Oh, Squall, what did they do to you?" she gasped.

"Nothing, just took a little lie down on Odine's and Gast's fancy bed, that's all." he replied, wearily.

"That'll be the electric torture, then." Rinoa heard Quistis say from behind the walls. Both Squall and Quistis seemed familiar with it.

"Are you feeling okay?" Rinoa asked.

"I'll be fine." Squall replied, already sitting up. "I just need to get my strength back, that's all."

"It must have been awful."

"It had to be me, otherwise they would have gone for you." Squall said, trying not to sound like an explanation. "I'll be okay. This is the kinda stuff I was trained for."

Rinoa sat down beside him. "It was still very brave. You're a good man, Squall." She slowly reached over to put her hand on his. At the instant of the touch, a slight wave of surprise and confusion splashed him in the face. His heart rate went up severely, and his eyes darted about nervously. Rinoa didn't see the reaction. Squall didn't know what to do in this kind of situation. His entire life had been learning about battle tactics, weapons training and psychological and genetic conditioning. How to act in something like this, he didn't know about. And it seemed to upset him far stronger than any torture could have done.

He stood up immediately. "We have to figure out a way out of here." he said, deliberately choosing to fall back on what he _was_ trained for. Rinoa sighed, and nodded. "Well, good luck." she said. "I tried to get at the mechanism, but all I got was a shock."

"That's not the locking mechanism." Squall said, facing her. "That's a decoy device used to give anyone who thinks they're unlocking the door an electric shock. Blame whoever designed the cells for the twisted sense of humour."

Squall soon noticed Rinoa was staring at his naked chest. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the far wall, as she turned away and stifled a smile. "Speaking of the cells, Tseng said that not even a Sorceress or a gunblade could get through it."

Squall looked at the door, then lowered his gaze again. "He's right."

"So what can get through them?" Rinoa asked.

"I'm not sure. Probably an anti-tank incendiary mortar round." he replied.

"Marvellous." she said sarcastically and stretched out on the bunk. "I don't suppose Zell happens to have one in his pocket. Which still begs the question of just _how _we're going to get out of here."

"They have to feed us sometime." said Squall. "There are all sorts of opportunities. Quistis and I have escaped from here before. I can do it again, no problem. There's something we have to do before that, though."

"What's that?" Rinoa asked, as Squall went to sit down in the corner.

"Sleep." he said.

***

They didn't know how much later it was, but it was well into the late hours. The halls were dimmed with silence. Squall still sat there, his feet tucked up in front of his chest, hugging himself for warmth.

"...Squall?" Rinoa whispered. She sounded a little upset. "Are you awake, Squall?" Squall closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. Rinoa turned in the bunk and looked at him. She wiped her eyes free of tears and looked again. Seeing he was asleep, she sighed and lay back on the bunk again, turning away from him.

Squall opened his eyes again. After a while, the silence continued, unbroken, until it was that kind of silence you can only find deep in the night when sounds are non-existent, and even your own thoughts could drown them should they appear. The kind of silence that deafens you.

Soon, he heard Rinoa mumbling in her sleep. Squall listened and watched her.

".......ady....." came the timid sounds from her lips. ".....daddy.... don't go away from us..."

Squall looked away, wondering if he had the right to be hearing this or not. He closed his eyes tightly, but his ears listened regardless.

"......daddy, I'm still your child............................don't leave us........."

Squall opened his eyes again.

"......why did you have to die?...."

Squall stood up, carefully making sure to avoid making any sound. He stood over the bunk, and saw tears rimming Rinoa's sleeping eyes. Avoiding questioning himself, he lay down beside her on the bunk. But he could still hear her soft crying. After a while, he turned and lay on his side. 

And held her.

And soon enough, the tears stopped, and Rinoa slept soundly and silently. And before long, so did Squall.

"Goodnight." he whispered, before drifting off...

* * * * * * * *

****

Authors Note; Chapter title comes from a song by Peter Gabriel, pretty much about a 21st century Tower of Babel. I chose it because the Shin-Ra building to me is like a kind of scientific Tower of Babel. Shin-Ra built it to reach God and in turn were destroyed, that's why I think the connection is so apt.


	7. Highway To The Danger Zone

Chapter VII; "Highway To The Danger Zone"

Chapter VII; "Highway To The Danger Zone"

__

Squall and Rinoa stood in a strange garden, completely surrounded by a beautiful gold-tainted spectrum of blooming flower fields. Just behind them there was an old house, run-down and in a bad state of disrepair. They both faced the fields, talking.

"I'll come up with something..." said Squall. "There's gotta be a way."

Rinoa said nothing, unsure of what to say even if she felt like talking about it.

"Don't worry." said Squall. "Trust me."

"...I trust you." replied Rinoa. "Well, until you find a way, maybe... Maybe I should stay in Esthar, at the memorial? Wouldn't that be better?"

Squall shook his head. "No...That'd be pointless. I'll just end up going after you again. Rinoa...Just stay close to me."

Rinoa smiled, finding Squall's words remiscent of a comforting dream she had had while in her coma. "Oh..." she gasped in recognition. "Those words!"

"What?" asked Squall.

"That's what started everything." Rinoa said, by way of explanation. Squall didnt understand at all. "What are you talking about?" Rinoa looked at him, then turned away as if in anger. "You don't remember?"

Squall looked at her. "Something I said?" he asked.

"Oh, just forget it!" Rinoa sighed. Squall sighed too. He understood now. "No, it's because of the GF. That's why I forgot."

"That's just an excuse." Rinoa dismissed. She then sighed at herself, realising how cold she sounded. Squall looked at her again. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." said Rinoa, her voice softer now. "Can I tell you a story?" Squall nodded and listened earnestly. "I had a dream. It was a scary dream. We make a promise. We promise to see shooting stars together. I get dressed up and put on your ring. But the thing is, I can't remember where I'm supposed to meet you. I start to panic. I really want to see you, Squall, but I don't know where to go. I start running through the mountains, the desert, the plains... Through Timber, Balamb and Galbadia... When I realize I can't run any longer...I...I just want to see you so badly... So I scream, 'Squall, where are you!?' Then I woke up. I was crying..." When she finished, Squall was looking at her. She thought he looked strange this way. Was he actally caring about something for once? "...I'm sorry." she said. "You don't have to say anything. I just felt like I had to tell you."

"It was just a dream..." Squall explained, trying to comfort her. "It doesn't mean anything. Don't worry about it."

"...I guess you're right." she replied.

"How about this..." Squall offered, showing her the full scope of the flower fields. "I'll be here..."

Rinoa turned and faced him, and he did the same, so they were facing each other. They both seemed at a loss for words in that bried moment. "...Why?" Rinoa asked.

"The reason why you couldn't find me was because we haven't promised yet." said Squall.

"Promised...?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Squall opened his eyes.

He blinked a few times, clearing the morning cataracts from his eyes. _Strange dream,_ he thought. _Not at all like the others... _He rubbed his face in a the struggle to return to full consciousness. He sat forward, shivering slightly. Of course, he was cold. He looked down at Rinoa beside him. Sometime during the night she had turned to face him, curling her fingers through his hair in her sleep.

Squall finally returned to the land of the waking, and looked around the cell. What he saw startled him, and he was on his feet in an instant. The door to the cell was battered and bashed to hell beyond belief, but still held firmly in place. The metal was scarred and torn, as if some colassal force had thrown all it's power at it but had still held.

Squall shook Rinoa awake in an instant. "Squall..." she moaned, sitting up and straightening her hair out with her fingers. "What is it? ...I had the strangest dream. You were there, and so was i.... and it was some place i'd never seen before, and i was talking about all these places that don't exist..."

"No time for that now." Squall dismissed. "Look."

"What? Oh my!" she gasped as soon as she saw the door. "What could have done this?"

Squall crouched in front of the door, examining it. "Hell if i know." he said. "It looks like something was trying to get in."

"Think we can get out of here?" Rinoa asked. Squall, having examined the door fully, found where a weak point had been formed. He stood and ran to the back of the cell, jumped and placed both feet up against the wall, and used his body as a spring, launching himself back across the cell. He flipped over in mid-air and brought his feet crashing against the damaged door, blowing out of it's frame and slamming it into the opposite side of the outside hallway. "Silly question." Rinoa admitted, smiling.

She stepped out of the cell and looked around. Squall was at the far end of the hallway, looking around. Rinoa could see the door to Quistis' cell was just as damaged as hers had been, but Zell and Edea's was left unscathed. How odd. She knocked on Quistis' door. "Um, hello? Quistis? Are you awake?"

"As if anyone could sleep through that!" came Quistis' voice from behind the pounded door. "What ruckus?" asked Rinoa. "I didnt hear anything all night."

The door to Zell and Edea's cell hissed open, and out flipped Zell. "Wow, your limit break must be the ability to sleep through the apocalypse!" he exclaimed. "It was like the full force of a hurricane was out here last night."

"I honestly didnt hear a thing." said Rinoa. Edea exited her cell and looked around. "Indeed, a powerful force did come through here during the night." she said. "But not one as benevolent as anything by nature..."

The door to Quistis' cell hissed open, stuck halfway, then just fell out of it's frame and clattered noisily to the floor. Quistis shrugged and stepped out. "That's amazing." she said. "It's hard to believe anyone could sleep through that."

"I'm telling you, i was dreaming so deep that i was totally worlds away..."

"Where's Squall?" Zell asked. As if in answer, Squall appeared from around the corner. "Found the room with the controls for the cell doors." he reported. "The door was beaten to a pulp but still held. I found the keycard to it on some dead body lying in the hallway."

"Dead body?" Zell echoed.

"Yeah." said Squall. "There's a lot of bodies all over the place. I think everybody's dead."

***

They followed Squall down the corridors. There was a morbid red carpet of blood draped throughout the hallways and corridors of the building. "This is crazy." Zell muttered. "Who could have done this?" Quistis looked up and down the walls. There were deep gouges and scratches, carved by claws or talons. "Nothing human, anyway." she said. Edea was quiet, even for her. She knew this was familiar somehow, and it was something she had been deeply afraid of her whole life. But she couldnt recall what. It was like waking up after a bad dream and still being scared, only you can't remember what scared you. All you know is, you were pretty damn scared of it, whatever it was, and you're not sure if you really want to remember.

Rinoa stuck close to Squall. True enough, they were without their weapons, but by now Rinoa believed Squall could easily take out an entire SeeD platoon with just his thumb. She noticed his breath forming a mist that hung in the air. "Hey, it's cold." she said, noticing it for the first time. Squall nodded. "The building's central operating computer is malfunctioning." he explained. "It controls everything, heating, doors, lights and lifts."

They walked up the closest stairwell to get the 68th floor, where Squall had been tortured and Edea's powers merged into Quistis. And it was there that they found Odine. He had been crucified, impaled on the roof with thousands upon thousands of scalpels, syringes and dozens of other equipment sticking out of his body. Zell summed it up in one word; 

"Ouch."

Everyone else was quiet, staring up in horror."Couldnt have happened to a nicer asshole." said Zell, shrugging. "Alright! The weapons!" he exclaimed, dashing over to a security cabinet and easily breaking open the lock with his metal-knuckled gloves. "Catch!" He tossed their weapons to them, Squall catching Griever by the hilt with ease. Rinoa strapped her pinwheel back on her arm as Quistis looped the whip around a notch on her belt. "Hmmm, what else have we got in here?" Zell explored the cabinet, finding only a hand-gun, which he offered to Edea, who refused. "Sorry, i swore a vow against holding or using a weapon." she explained.

Zell shrugged and put the gun back in the cabinet. "Suit yourself. So, what now?" He looked around but no-one gave an ansewer. Rinoa was looking around, keeping her eyes on anywhere other than Odine's corpse. Edea and Quistis stared at it grimly. Quistis hung her head, smiling slightly in thanks as Edea laid a supportive hand on her shoulder. He was dead. Her abuser, the source of a million nightmares and harrowing memories of experiments was gone forever. And Zell had been most definately right. 

Squall had found his t-shirt and jacket and was putting them on. When ready, he suggested they take a look around and follow the blood trail. Maybe it would lead to a way out.

That brought them up to the 69th floor. Much like the rest of the building, it was completely trashed with bodies and damaged equipment strewn about the place.

"I think it leads up to the presidents office." said Zell, pointed out the massive crimson trail on the formerly mauve carpet.

"Hey, you guys, check it out." came Rinoa's voice. She was standing in front of the large windows at the far end of the room. "What is it, child?" Edea asked, and they all stepped up to see.

About 68 storeys down, it looked like the entire Shin-Ra army was encamped, circling the building. Huge spotlights were brought flaring into life and pointed at the sinister tower. Helicopters buzzed to and fro around the building.. They could make out what appeared to be some kind of media circus, gathered in front of the sealed off entrance to the building.

"Man, what the hell is going on?!" Zell demanded. Quistis walked over to the back end of the room and looked behind one of the tables, making sure to keep her eyes from the mangled corpse that lay there. She found what she was looking for; a damaged tv, hissing with static and white noise. She picked it up and placed it on the desk, and began trying to tune it. The others saw what she was doing and walked over. She found a station just as they approached. It was a live broadcast from outside the building. The TV didnt have much sound available yet, but in front of the reporter's face was the caption; 'Crisis At Shin-Ra HQ'.

"Whoa!" Zell gasped. "Can we get sound on this?"

Quistis finally tuned in the sound. "-as of yet, all reports remain unconfirmed. So far, Shin-Ra spokespersons and people who have exited the building have said they cannot confirm or deny anything at this moment. So far, we have only been able to speculate on the events of the last few hours. Wheter a fire broke out on one of the upper floors or there has been some kind of terrorist attack on the building. All we really do know at this point are two things for certain; There are still some people inside the building who have yet to make their way out, and that Shin-Ra officials will be arriving from Junon to investigate this mystery. This reporter has also heard from a few employees that at least one very high-ranking Shin-Ra official is dead. A spokesperson has confirmed this, but refused to name the individual..."

"Who died?" Rinoa wondered aloud. 

Squall immediately made his way up the stairs towards the 70th floor. The others followed him promptly, up to wear Shin-Ra had made his plans concerning the Sorceresses and the Promised Land clear. And there was Shin-Ra himself, sitting comfortably at his chair. Or at least, most of him was.

Rinoa gasped and turned away, holding back the gut reaction to vomit. Zell winced and crossed his arms. "Dang, someone seems to have saved me a load of work." Squall walked around back behind the desk. There he found the president's head, lying on the floor, a look of terror forever frozen into his features.

"So, he's dead." said Zell. "The head of Shinra, Inc. is dead. Pun unintended."

"Does this mean it's over?" Rinoa asked. "Have we won?"

Squall examined the stump of the president's neck. Only someone who had spent 85% of their life being surrounded by violence could stare at such a thing and remain calm. The wound had closed almost instantly, explaining the lack of blood. The weapon that had done this had to have been hot...or charged. Squall recognized it as the work of a gunblade. Seifer had done this.

Squall drew his gunblade and threw it past Zell's shoulder. Zell jumped to the side in surprise but the blade flew on, impacting into the wall a bare few inches away from the head of the figure Squall had seen through the corner of his eye. It was Palmer, who was practically in the process of soiling himself.

"Ah! Oh! Oh my gods, it's you!" he screamed. "You're them! Please don't kill me!"

Zell grabbed him by the collar and turned him to face his audience. "What happened? Start squealing, Piggy, or we stuff an apple in your mouth."

"Uh-uh....uh uh....uh."

"Is this record scratched?" Zell shouted in his ear. "Let's have the CD-quality version, please!"

"It was uh-Ultimecia!" Palmer panted, scared out of his mind. "Ultimecia and her knight! They were here!"

"...Ultimecia..." Edea and Quistis gasped together.

"Who's Ultimecia?" Rinoa asked. "What was she doing?"

"S-she was terrifying! She was killing everybody, saying that Shin-Ra was stealing the power that belonged to her or something like that!"

"And she's the one who killed the president?" said Zell. "Does that mean she's on our side, you know, fighting the Shin-Ra?"

"She's not on anyone's side, except her own." said Edea, suddenly. Squall looked at her. "You know who she is, don't you?"

"I....can't seem to remember." Edea replied. "But it seems you know who she is."

"S-she wasnt alone." Palmer continued. "There was this guy with her, t-tall chap, blonde hair and a grey coat. He was with her and they were killing everybody."

"...Seifer..." Squall hissed under his breath. Rinoa heard it and stared at him but said nothing. Squall didnt see it. Suddenly, they were interrupted by the humming of a helicopter flying past the building. Palmer took their distraction as an opportunity to make a break for it. They let him go. concentrating more on the Shin-Ra helicopter that was flying past the large bay windows of the office. Squall could see three people on board; the pilot, a young man in his mid-twenties not at all disimilar to Seifer, and the always recognisable Scarlet. 

"That's Rufus." Rinoa announced. "Rufus Shin-Ra, the president's son."

"Guess he's the new president now." said Zell. "They say he's as tough as they come, and a chip off the old blockhead. Should we go pay our respects?" Too late, Zell realised that everyone else had already gone outside, and left him there making sarcastic comments to himself. "Dammit!" he yelled. "Wait for me!"

***

Squall and Rufus stared at each other, eye locked with eye, neither blinking despite the furious maelstrom the helicopter was kicking up. A rope ladder was flung from the side of the chopper, and the young man in white began to climb down, followed by Scarlet. He hopped off the ladder and stood facing the balcony, his eyes taking in all of Midgar. All the lights and noises of millions of lives all under his control.

"So." he said, speaking finally. "At last. King of all I survey." He turned and faced the group finally, looking at them in turn with his deep eyes. Strange, those eyes seemed too old for the body that beheld them, signifying the wisdom beyond his years. "And all I survey is a world of people stumbling around with blind loyalty and obedience to an empire my father built."

"Poor guy." said Zell. "Born with a silver spoon up his butt."

Strangely enough, the new president smiled his appreciation for the joke. "Ah yes, and what I also see are the enemies my father made, who through death then made mine. Just who are you, anyway?"

Squall crossed his arms, saying nothing. "Well i know who you are." said the new president, looking at him. "I never forget a famous face. One of the prized graduates of the Generation; NeXus project, if i'm not mistaken. Proclaimed defective, right? Well, i'd rather make up my own mind and not follow blindly what i read in reports, thank you. The rest of, ...hmm, refresh my memory?"

"Quistis Trepe, Sorceress." said Quistis. "My own person, and _never_ the property of the Shin-Ra."

"Rinoa Heartilly, resistance fighter." said Rinoa, sounding not the least bit polite. "And very much Anti-Shin-Ra."

"Zell Dincht, former SeeD cadet turned resistance fighter." said Zell, baring his fists. "And damned if i'll ever give up fighting snobbish would-be dictators like you and your old man!"

Rufus turned his eyes to the eldest of the group. "Edea Kramer." she said. "Of the Order of the Sisters of Hyne."

"What a crew." said the president. "Well then, please allow me to introduce myself, i'm a man of wealth and taste. Rufus Shin-Ra, and since the presidency of Shin-Ra Inc is hereditary, i am now the new president."

"You got here pretty fast." Rinoa observed. "Your father's body isn't even cold and already you can't wait to push it off the throne to make room for yourself."

"Well, anyone who tries to ignore their own flesh and blood and pretend they don't exist should understand that what goes around comes around turnabout is fair play." Rufus explained. "I would love to say i was just paying a visit when i saw all this carnage, but the fact is that myself and many of my father's associates saw this carnage hours ago in Junon via live feed of the security cameras. And i've only just arrived."

Scarlet finally spoke for the first time. "You know," she said. "Somebody may have to be held responsible for the events that happened here, while also keeping a lid on the truth about some of Shin-Ra's dirty little secrets."

Rufus looked at her, intrigued. "I think i see where you're going with this."

Squall could see it too. As Scarlet and Rufus continued to talk, he slowly and descreetly moved a hand behind his back and plucked two silver-colored spheres from one of his belts.

"We have five rebels right here." Scarlet continued, drawing a small pistol that she had kept discreetly in her garter belt and pointing it at them. "And the story is simple. They attacked Shin-Ra headquarters directly, and successfully assassinated the president. Now, there story can go two ways here. Should they be held for trial, or were they shot trying to escape?"

"Just like his father to build an empire on lies." Rinoa stated. This obviously provoked a reaction from Rufus, used to stepping out from his father's shadow. "It's not like that at all." he said. "While it's true that there are three basic things that can be used to control society; Money, Fear and of course, Lies, i don't do things quite the way my old man did. Lies do no credit to you or the ones you control. What's the point in trying to control someone if they don't know it was _you _that could rule them so easily? No, lies are not the way to control people. It's the cowards way."

__

Just like his pops Zell thought. _In love with the sound of his own voice._

Rinoa listened to the speech, looking over Squall's shoulder. At first she believed he was listening intently, then she glanced down and could see he was silently cupping and twirling two small spheres in his gloved hand like two stress-reducer Chinese grinding balls. He clutched them to his palm with his thumb and extended four fingers. After a few seconds he closed one, leaving three out for her to see. Then she understood; Squall was counting down, signalling her to be ready.

"Money is another way to manipulate people." Rufus continued. "My old man's way. A very ineffective way, too. He tried to control the world with money, and for a while, it seemed to work." He walked up to Rinoa, not even looking at Squall. "The population thought that Shin-Ra would protect them." He walked past Quistis over to Zell, looking at her as he continued talking. "Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a _terrorist _attacks, the Shinra army will help you." He stressed the world, delibrately meaning it for Zell, who stayed uncharecteristically quiet. "It looks perfect on the outside. But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man." He walked back to the railing, standing next to Scarlet. "A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them."

"Fear?" Edea echoed. Squall tucked another finger into his fist, leaving two.

"Fear." Rufus repeated boldly. "Fear is my ally. Fear attracts the fearful, the strong, the weak, the innocent, the corrupt. Money can't buy you the respect of your enemies, but Fear will make them afraid of you. Money can't stop a rebellion, but Fear can stop one ever happening. Fear can rule the world better than money. Watch me prove it."

Squall tucked one more finger down. Rinoa braced herself, building tension in her nerves, her reflexes ready to snap at whatever happened.

"This is a big mess here, no matter how much it benefits me." said Rufus. "Scarlet was right, somebody will need to be held responsible." Scarlet clicked off the safety of her pistol. "Does anyone want to go back to their cell or be shot trying to escape?"

Squall made a fist and swung into action, throwing one of the spheres to the ground. It smacked into the concrete and exploded, setting off a pulse of light and releasing a disorienting gas. As everyone around him coughed and spluttered, Squall, seemingly impervious, jumped over and kicked the pistol out of Scarlet's hand.

He instantly opened out the other orb, pulling out a length of strong high-tension cable with a loop at the end. Squall punched Rufus several times, disorienting him, then took the cable and wrapped it around Rufus' arm before dumping him over the side of the building. Scarlet saw what was happening, and instantly fumbled around for her gun. She found it and pointed it directly at Squall. "Let him go!" she ordered.

"You sure you want me to do that?" Squall replied, holding on to the cable with both hands, bracing himself against the wall with a raised foot. He was the only thing that stood between Rufus and a long drop to the ground. Scarlet looked around for options, her gun still trained on Squall. The others watched intently.

"Let them go." Squall ordered. He let Rufus drop a few inches more, showing he had no qualms about dropping him all the way. Scarlet pressed her gun to the back of Squall's ear, proving she was prepared to blow his brains out. One of them would have to cave first.

"Go!" shouted Squall. "Get out of here!"

Edea and Quistis took off, running back into the president's office and heading for the lifts. Rinoa didnt move until Zell grabbed her hand. "What are you waiting for?" he yelled. "Let's book!"

As Rinoa began to run, she looked back at Squall, still in his stand-off.

They ran down the carpeted stairs, running towards the elevators. Zell skidded to a halt when he saw Rinoa stop in her tracks and turn back. "What is it?" he called.

"I can't let Squall handle this on his own." she said. "He'll be killed. He's going to need help."

Zell crossed his arms and gave her one of _those _looks. "Try to get Quistis and Edea out of here any way you can." Rinoa told him. "Try to get out of Midgar. Squall and I will meet you outside the city."

Zell stopped frowning, and began to see her side of things, and understood. "Awright." he said. "But you two take care of yourselves, okay?"

"Good luck." said Rinoa.

"You too."

And they ran off in opposite directions.

***

A gust of wind caught Squall's hair, whipping it around in the breeze. He didnt even dare blink. There was no sound up on the balcony, aside from Rufus, grunting in pain from below.

"He's starting to get heavy." Squall said suddenly.

"Then pull him up." Scarlet replied.

Squall let the cable go in one hand, now only holding it with the other. Scarlet almost gasped, but kept her resolve. Squall shifted away from her, still holding the cable, but now facing her straight on. The rushing wind began to pick up, and another Shin-Ra helicopter hovered into view. "That's an entire armoured battalion, Squall!" Scarlet cackled in glee. "They'll be landing any second."

"Then in that case," replied Squall, as the helicopter began to set down. He swung his hand, knocking Scarlet's gun away. It went off. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her over to him, thrusting the cable into her fist. "You hold him!" he shouted, let go, and ran, picking up her gun as he went and running back into the presidential office.

Scarlet was practically pulled over the side, her grip on the cable already slipping. "Help!" she called for the soldiers. "Help me!" They rushed over and began to help her pull the president back over the edge of the balcony. "Where's Squall?!?" he snarled. 

"He's gone!" Scarlet cried. 

"Find him!" Rufus snapped, clutching his arm in pain. He and Scarlet then made for the helicopter as the guards began to shout orders and instructions into their radios. "All squads, All squads! Rebels are in the building. I repeat, rebels are _in the building_. Orders are to shoot on sight!"

***

Squall tucked Scarlet's gun into one of his belts as he slid down the banister of the grand staircase, hopping off halfway down. He was surprised to find Rinoa there waiting for him. "Where's everybody else?" he asked, not breaking his run as they dashed for the lifts.

"I told them we'd meet them outside the city." Rinoa replied. "It would be better if we split up, i thought."

Squall nodded and skidded to a stop in front of the elevator, pressing the call button urgently. "Did you kill Rufus?" Rinoa asked. Squall shook his head. "Not if I wanted to make it out of there alive. He's not like any Shin-Ra executive I've ever known. This is going to be tough."

The door 'bing!'ed open. Squall grabbed Rinoa and pulled her inside just as a pair of soldiers rounded the corner and fired their weapons at them. The heavy lift doors slid shut just in time, however, as good as bulletproof.

"How do we get out of here?" Squall asked.

"If Zell's smart, he'll head for the second floor basement." Rinoa replied. "Shin-Ra has a garage there. He'll try to grab a vehicle and get out of the city."

"Then we better do the same."

***

The lift doors opened, and Zell relaxed his fists. Security was minimal down in the basement. That was to say, there wasnt any. Not with everyone's eyes on the upper floors, anyway.

"Try to find a car or something." he said. "Something we can use."

They looked around. Most of everything was just armoured cars and bikes. Either too heavy and slow for a getaway, or something that would'nt fit three people.

"Zell?" Edea called from a corner. "Is this what you're looking for?"

Zell and Quistis ran over. Edea was standing in front of a jeep. It was slick-black, with the Shin-Ra logo on the doors. "A supply jeep!" exclaimed Zell. "This'll do perfect!"

Zell pulled himself into the drivers seat, whilst Edea and Quistis jumped into the back. 

"Let's go!" Quistis called. "What's the problem?"

"No keys." Zell replied, not wanting to sound angry, but it would be obvious nobody was stupid enough to leave the keys in a vehicle like this. Some things are just too convienient. "Do you know how to hotwire?" he asked.

"Of course I know how to hotwire." said Quistis, reaching through the large hole where a window should have been and placing her hands on the steering wheel. "The only problem is," she gripped the wheel and her hands glowed. A wave of energy swept over the wheel, then the dashboard, until finally the engine rumbled into life, and the lights came on. "It takes too long."

Zell put his foot down, shifting up gears quickly. "Hold on!" he shouted, and gunned the jeep towards the ramp and the barrier that stood there. Quistis stood up and hurled a bolt of energy at it, exploding it into splinters. The jeep rushed up and out in front of the Shin-Ra building. 

"Anyone see anything that looks slightly like a way out of this place?" Zell asked nobody in particular.

***

"All units, all units." said Rufus, grabbing the helicopter's radio. "I want the Midgar roads locked down. I want you all to form a gauntlet throughout the city. Nobody gets out, is that clear? I want the Shin-Ra building inescapable and I want the roads barred, and I want it done 10 minutes ago!"

The Shin-Ra troops went into action, setting up roadblocks and barriers, preparing themselves and following Rufus's orders to the letter. Any and all citizens and bystanders were removed, in most cases, forcibly.

The president's helicopter touched down on a bridge that overhung the main road that led directly away from the front of the Shin-Ra building. The other executives were here, along with a large battalion of troops and assorted military vehicles.

"Mister President!" said a high-ranking SeeD, saluting. "The front gates have been sealed off, sir. They're not going anywhere."

Rufus nodded and looked back towards the building, hearing the screeching of tires.

***

Zell skidded the jeep to a halt. "Come on!" he moaned. "There's got to be some way out of here!"

"Why don't we try the front door?" Edea suggested.

"No way!" said Zell. "Shin-Ra have got it sealed!"

"Don't worry." said Quistis. "I've got a key."

Zell grinned and started the jeep again, jumping up gears. 

"Look!" shouted Heideggar, on the bridge, having seen the jeep come racing around the side of the building through a set of binocular's. "They're going to ram the gates!"

"Impossible!" said Scarlet. "They're solid concrete!"

Zell pushed the jeep up to it's highest gear and floored the accelerator. "Sure hope you know what you're doing, Quistis!" he yelled, heading right for the concrete gates.

"Piece of cake!" she yelled, and threw back her fist, concentrating until it began to glow, and then flung the poptent spell towards the gates like a baseball. The blew bolt shot out ahead of them and obliterated the gates in a white-hot explosion. The jeep roared through the fire and out the other side, the occupant's protected by Quistis' magic.

The jeep zommed under the bridge, making for the Midgar highway. "Get them!" Rufus shouted. Scarlet nodded and immediately began shouting orders into a radio, ordering all available vehicles into a persuit. "Wait." said Rufus. "Squall hasnt come out yet. Seal the entrance to the building too!"

Heideggar nodded and waved to the drivers of four jeeps to move in and block the flaming exit of the building.

***

Squall ran throught the front doors of the building and out in the courtyard, looking around for a way out. Rinoa followed him out, then stopped abrubtly. "Squall!" she shouted. Squall turned and saw two Shin-Ra soldiers on motorcycles come racing around the corner towards him.

They bore down on him. Squall side-stepped the first one, feeling the rush of wind as it flew past, then flipped his body over, bringing his foot crashing up into the face of the second bikeman, who was sent flying in the direction he had come. His bike fell, clattering the ground. Squall ran over and picked it up, started it and kicked the engine back into life. He got on and looked over at Rinoa. She grinned and ran over, getting on behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist, not exactly the most unpleasant feeling for either of them.

"Didnt know you could ride a motorcycle, Squall." she giggled.

Squall shrugged and looked around. "Everyone's gotta have a hobby."

Squall tweaked the accelerator and moved the bike around to where the fire was. The exit was in flames, a blazing inferno, and behind it was flanked a series of jeeps, completely blocking the exit. Rinoa pointed, and Squall followed her gaze. Up on the bridge was Rufus and the other Shin-Ra members. 

"We've got them trapped now!" Heideggar cackled.

Squall looked behind him, back towards the Shin-Ra building, then back at the flaming barricade again. "Hang on." he warned running, and skidded the bike into a turn, heading back towards the building.

"Just where does he think he's going?" Scarlet wondered aloud.

Squall drove the bike through the wide-open doors of the Shin-Ra building and across the lobby, heading for the steps up to the first and second floors. "You're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" she asked, her voice comically beaten and the bike raced up the steps.

"You want to stay here?" Squall asked sarcastically, driving the jeep across the first floor and heading for the next set of stairs. 

"Well, I don't want you to think of me as the spoiled little rich girl," said Rinoa as the bike thundered up the second flight of stairs. "But I just prefer coming out of a building in the same amount of pieces as I was when I went in."

Squall gribbed the brakes, skidding the bike to a halt, the wheels scuffing up the polished tiles of the Shin-Ra floors. "What do you think the odds are of that happening if you stay here?" Squall asked.

"Good point." said Rinoa. She looked towards the huge glass windows they were pointed at. She grabbed Squall even tighter and put her head down. "Okay. Go for it."

Squall took a deep breath, and revved the bike up until the noise of the engine hit a cresendo. The back wheel skidded into life, throwing up whisps of grey smoke from the friction burns. Squall releases the brakes and the bike lurched forward, gaining speed with each second it neared it's target. 

Squall threw his head down and Rinoa buried her face in his shoulder as the bike smashed through the glass windows and sailed through the air. Rufus and the others stared in amazement as the bike flew over the flaming barrier and narrowly missed the assembled jeeps before crashing back down to Earth in skids and sparks. Squall didnt waste a second, redlining the accelerator as Rinoa looked back in amazement, unable to believe they had actually made the jump.

Rufus and the other Shin-Ra executives had been unable to believe it too, but they too were already in action. "What are you waiting for?" Heideggar bellowed at the soldiers around him. "After them! Get them!" He turned back and looked at Rufus, who gave him a dark look that said Heideggar would be responsible for all that happened here tonight.

Scarlet grinned, knowing that the new president had her approval over Heideggar's, and also knowing that even if Squall and the others did escape, she still had a trump card she knew Rufus would not hesitate to use. Smiling to herself, she followed Rufus, Heideggar, Palmer and Deling over to the helicopter that was starting to take off.

The soldiers scrambled for their vehicles, beginning the persuit. All except for two, who stood standing in amazement at the spectacular feat they'd just witnessed. It was a lot more than that, though, as they were also familiar with the two occupants of the bike. "Ward!" gasped the smaller of the two. He was slim and black, with a series of dreadlocks on his head. He was only half the size of his companion, a towering giant of a man with a scar down the left side of his face, who was also mute. "Ward, did you see that?!" Kiros repeated. Ward nodded and took out his notepad, frantically scribbling down a note he tore off and handed to Kiros. Kiros read it and looked back at him. "Yeah, I know _she_ was Caraway's kid, but did you get a look at the guy in black in front of her? He looked just like Raine!"

Ward went wide-eyed, then scribbled down another note. "Yeah." said Kiros after reading it. "I think it's him alright."

***

The jeep raced down the Midgar Highway. Zell gripped the wheel, trying to keep the jeep steady as the Shin-Ra vehicles on the road with him began to slam into them repeatedly. Quistis was trying to deflect them with magic, but they still kept on coming.

"There are too many of them!" Edea yelled.

"Goddamn!" Zell shouted, slingshooting the jeep around a treacherous curve. Quistis and Edea fell to their knees in the back, being thrown around by Zell's jerky driving. Not hesitating, Quistis reached over to the driver's seat and tapped Zell on the shoulder.

"Hey, Zell, did your mother teach you how to drive?" she asked.

"Hey, yeah! She did!" Zell replied. "Wow, you really are psychic, huh?"

"No, it just explains why you drive like an old lady." said Quistis, moving forward. "Move over, I'm driving."

Zell tried to protest but soon saw it as a waste of breath. He and Quistis hurridly exchanged places. As soon as she got into the driver's seat, she shifted up a gear and slammed her foot down on the accelerator. She felt movement next to her, and saw Edea climb into the passenger seat.

"It's safer here." said the elder Ex-Sorceress by way of explanation. Quistis nodded and concentrated on driving, slamming two Shin-Ra soldiers off their bikes while she was at it.

Zell was fumbling around in the back, looking for something he could use as a weapon. All there was however was some electrical tap, a world map, some road flares and a spare tank of gas. "Damn, where's a good bat or at least a heavy lead pipe when you really need one?" he moaned. He then looked quizzically at the sight in front of him. A Shin-Ra soldier was crouching on the hood another Shin-Ra jeep that was rapidly picking up speed and aiming right for their rear. Zell frowned in annoyance. "So they wanna board us, huh? That's a new one."

The other jeep picked up an extra burst of speed and rammed into them. The soldier seized the moment and lunged at Zell before the Shin-Ra jeep fell away, but still kept up the pace behind them.

The soldier tried to strangle Zell, who just simply got madder and broke away, striking him with an uppercut and then bashing his head repeatedly against the floor of the jeep. "_We-are-not-in-the-car-pool-lane_!" he growled and flung the dazed the soldier out of the back. He hit the road and rolled under the wheels of the second jeep.

"What's going on?" Quistis called from the drivers seat.

"Oh, nothing." said Zell. "Caution; Assholes in rear-view mirror are closer than they appear!"

Quistis shook her head and swerved to the left, taking out the biker that had been trying to attack them. Zell turned back to face the second jeep, that was coming at them again. Zell put his fists up, ready for action. The driver leaned out the window and swung his fist at Zell. Zell looked puzzled, then felt a clattering at his feet. 

He went wide-eyed in terror as he recognised the live grenade lying at his feet. Not even stopping to think, he picked it up and flung it back at the second jeep. It smashed through the windscreen like a stone and buried itself in the driver's cab. The driver screamed and frantically tried to find it, only for the entire jeep to suddenly explode in a fire rose of heat and shrapnel. Zell looked, both amazed and impressed with himself at the same time.

***

Rinoa hung on tight as Squall brought them speeding around a dangerous curve. The two bikers behind them weren't as adept as Squall, however, and ended up crashing right into the highway barrier.

"How many behind us?" Squall shouted over the wind. Rinoa tried to crane her nack to see behind her but remain hanging on tight to Squall at the same time. She turned her head, only for the wind to catch her hair, whipping it round into her face. "I can't see!" she said, turning back. "Wait, hang on a sec."

Without warning, she climbed around Squall and sat on his lap with her arms wrapped tightly around his back. He shook his head, getting her hair out of his face before looking at her strangely. She smiled up at him. "Don't get any ideas." she said, slyly.

"I wasn't planning on it." Squall replied, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. "There's lots behind us!" Rinoa reported. "Two jeeps, a lot of bikers, and two helicopters."

"The front one will be Rufus." said Squall. "Hang on!" Rinoa held on tight as Squall abruptly turned right and took the bike up an off-ramp and onto the Midgar Highway. Rinoa yelled out as Squall brought the bike ducking and weaving between oncoming traffic. Several of the bikes following them either crashed themselves into cars or barriers or the drivers got off, realising they loved their lives a lot more than their jobs. The two Shin-Ra jeeps still followed, however, with Rufus's helicopter and a second one not far behind.

"We have to loose those choppers!" yelled Rinoa. Squall nodded and put on an extra burst of speed, gunning the bike towards a tunnel up ahead.

"He's making for the tunnel!" growled Hiedeggar.

"What do you want me to do?" asked the helicopter pilot, uneasiness in voice. He was a little worried they just _might_ ask him to follow them in. "Fly around to where this tunnel opens out, land and block him off." Scarlet ordered.

"No." said Rufus, cancelling her order. She looked at him. He was listening to a frantic voice on the other end of the radio he clutched next to his ear. "Zell Dincht, Edea Kramer and the Sorceress are further down the road. I want us there _now_."

The pilot nodded and changed direction, aiming for a part of the highway further down. Rufus looked at Scarlet, thinking about her idea. It was sound enough, in theory. He picked up the radio again. "Rufus to Chopper B." he said. His eyes met with Scarlet's as he gave the order. "I want you to fly around to where the Caraway Tunnel opens out. Then I want you to land and block off the renegade's escape route."

Scarlet smiled. This blossoming rapport with the president was looking sweeter all the time...

It was dark in the tunnel. Blackness, interspersed only by nauseous yellow lits that lit the tunnel in an eerie glow. Rinoa hated the dark, but there was no time to think about that now. They had pulled ahead of the two jeeps only for them to start gaining upon them again.

Rinoa looked around to the front of the tunnel and gasped. A helicopter was landing, directly in their path. "Damn!" grunted Squall and clamped a hand down on the brakes. He immediatly switched of the motorcycle's headlight, rendering them practically invisible to the helicopter in the tunnel's darkness.

"What do we do?" Rinoa asked. Squall looked back at the two jeeps coming through the tunnel behind them, then back at the helicopter. He formed an idea, and reached for Scarlet's gun. He aimed for the front jeep's headlights, firing the last three shots left in the clip. The second missed, but the first and third took out the jeeps headlights no problem. Squall dropped the gun to the tunnel floor and started the bike up again. He looked at Rinoa and opened his mouth to speak, but she got there first. "Let me guess." she said, frowning. "You were gonna say 'hang on', right?"

"...Whatever." said Squall, and Rinoa held on as he revved the bike up and made straight for the helicopter. Rinoa gasped, seeing that the front one of the jeeps was almost directly upon them. With it's headlights shot out, the driver was having difficulty seeing them in the night darkness. Squall leaned forward and Rinoa held on tight as he gripped the both the brakes and the accelerator at the same time, causing the back wheel to throw up a blanket of smoke that cloaked the tunnel behind them. The driver swerved, trying to see but trying not to lose his quarry at the same time.

"Duck!" shouted Squall as they shot out of the tunnel and rushed under the helicopter's tailfin with inches to spare. Rinoa coughed and opened her eyes, and saw the helicopter pilot look at them, amazed. He turned back and looked at the smoke filled tunnel, and screamed as a jeep came racing blindly out of the mist and crashed into the helicopter, engulfing them both a white-hot explosion. The fire formed an inpenatrable barrier, blocking off the second jeep and any following Shin-Ra cycles.

"That wasn't Rufus's chopper!" Rinoa shouted over the wind. Squall didn't hear her. "Hey!" she yelled in his ear. "Will you slow down?!?" Squall relucantly eased up on the accelerator. "That's better." said Rinoa. "I said, that wasn't Rufus's chopper, and I can't see it anywhere."

Squall looked around. She was right, Rufus's chopper wasn't there anymore. "They must have gone after Zell and the others." he said. "What?!?" Rinoa gasped. "Then what are you driving like it's Sunday for? We gotta go after them! Will you speed up?!?" Squall rolled his eyes and clamped his hand down on the accelerator. They sped on down the highway as fast as the bike could go.

***

"Hey, we're winning!" Zell shouted. "I think they're giving up!"

Quistis looked in her rear-view mirror, seeing Zell's grinning face and an empty road behind her. "I think he's right." she told Edea, who looked around, uneasy.

"What is it?" Quistis asked.

"Helicopter!" Edea cried suddenly.

"Where?!" shouted Zell. As if in ansewer, a Shin-Ra helicopter came rushing down out of the sky towards them. A soldier leaning out the side let spray a volley of machine-gun fire at the jeep. Zell dived for cover, or what little cover he had in the back. Edea put her head down and prayed whilst Quistis screamed and tried to drive and dodge bullets at the same time. She swerved, but couldnt lose the helicopter not matter what she could think of trying. 

Zell rolled around in the back. He hit his head against something hard and plastic and looked at it. It was a spare fuel tank. He then immediately remembered what else there was in the back of the jeep, and a spark of ingenuity ignited in his head.

"Alright." he said, grabbing the fuel canister in one hand and the electrical tape in the other. "So I'm not a good driver," He grabbed a road flare and pressed it to the side of the fuel canister. "But there are some things..." he continued to himself as he taped the road flare to the canister, biting the electrical tape away with his teeth. "...That I am good at!"

"The hell are you up to, Dincht?!?" Rufus wondered aloud, looking at what the former SeeD cadet was up to. When he realized what it was, he frantically grabbed the pilot's shoulder. "_Pull us away now_!" he bellowed.

"_EAT THIS_!!!" Zell roared and pulled the tip off the top of the road flare, the red fire burning into existance. Zell swung the impromptu petrol bomb over his head and aimed it at the helicopter's windscreen. It struck it full-on and exploded. Everyone inside panicked in alarm as a sea of hot orange flame washed over the front of the helicopter. "Take us down!" Rufus shouted over the meleè.

The pilot struggled with the controls, trying to bring the chopper in blind. Somehow he managed it, and all of the occupants leaped away from the bumpy landing, running to safety as two Shin-Ra soldiers with fire extinguishers struggled to put the flames out.

Zell punched the air in victory, proud with himself. One of the first things Rinoa had told him was that he could use the very skills Shin-Ra had taught him in SeeD against them. He was proud to have remembered this, and known that it had come in handy.

"Damn!" Scarlet screamed. Rufus remained silent, walking out into the middle of the road with a mask of anger on his face. He pulled a hunting pistol out of the folds of his jacket and aimed it after the jeep. Rufus pressed the trigger slightly, turning on the laser targeting sight. 

Zell, who had turned back to tell Quistis and Edea about his MacGyvered solution the helicopter problem didn't notice the shining red dot of a laser sight imprinted on the back of his head. Rufus squinted his eyes and squeezed the trigger back another fraction of an inch...

...right before Squall and Rinoa on the bike came rushing out of the smoke from the flames of the burning Shin-Ra heliopter. They sped past the astonished soldiers and Shin-Ra executives. Squall aimed to just brush past Rufus, and Rinoa snatched the pistol out of his hand as they sped past. Rufus stared in astonishment and anger as they sped on down the highway. Rinoa waved back at him and grinned, then threw his gun far off the side of the road.

Rufus turned and walked back to the executives.

"They got away." said Deling, not quite smiling but looking like he wanted to. "They broke through your gauntlet."

"They're not out yet!" snapped Scarlet and grabbed a radio. She was about to order another persuit when Rufus simply reached over and switched the radio off. She looked at him, but he didn't look back at her. He was looking back down the Midgar highway towards the Shin-Ra building.

"Let them go." he said, finally.

"What?!" snapped Heideggar. "Sir, we can still get them! We can order the Turks into a persuit, or even get SeeD to–" He stopped when saw Rufus looking at him angrily. "They're not important to us right now." said Rufus, in a tone that stated he was not used to explaining his plans, especially not to a total idiot and he wasn't very happy with it. "We let them go today and pick up the pieces tomorrow. Besides, they're not the ones who ransacked Shin-Ra HQ, are they? We have, as the saying so aptly puts it, _bigger fish to fry_. I'm not going to celebrate the eve of the New Age for Shin-Ra by going on a snipe hunt. There's still the Ultimecia issue to investigate, isn't there? We have much work to do and less time to waste chasing after a band of pitiful little rebels we can round up tomorrow."

He waved for another helicopter to land and collect him. As he walked away towards it, Scarlet looked at Heideggar and grinned, showing disdain for her rival. She followed Rufus to the helicopter. "Mister President!" she said, taking his arm. "I have something that may be of use to you, sir. A way we can keep tabs on Squall's little band. Something I like to call the 'secondary protocol'..."

"I'm all ears." Rufus said, and closed the helicopter door behind her.

***

It was much later, over on the opposite side of the city. A figure in a dark grey trenchcoat was sitting on the roadside, with the night sky and the distant ocean ahead of him. He was ritualistically running a sharpening knife along the length of his gunblade. He had managed to wipe the blood off of it, and was now in the process of sharpening it as he listened to the news report on the radio next to him.

"...which ended in a spectacular chase through the streets of Midgar. Shin-Ra have refused to confirm nor deny whether they have apprehended the renegades or whether they are still at large. Shin-Ra has also refused to comment on speculation that the high-ranking Shin-Ra official who was killed was the president, and that the renegades resposible for tonight's mayhem on the city streets were the guilty party. All we can confirm is that an unknown assailant breached the security all the way to the president's office, and left a man's decapitated body lying on the floor next to his own severed head. A head which at this time, has no name."

"I know his name." said the figure, grinning, and switched off the radio. He then felt a cold breeze blow from behind him. "Kome," said a dark voice, blowing past him. "This is only the beginning. There is still much work to be done..."

***

Rufus sat at his desk, the comfortable chair now not showing a trace of his father's blood. He was looking at the computer screen, clicking on the files in front of him and reading them thouroughly, one by one. He didn't even bother a word of thanks as a cup of hot coffee was placed next to him. He continued reading intently. Palmer stood in front of the desk. Next to him stood the Turks, the entire squad; Tseng, Reno, Rude, Raijin and Fujin.

"I'm going to give your men full autonomy on this mission, Tseng." said Rufus, not looking at them. It was clear from the way that he talked that he was speaking without thinking, too interested in what he was reading on the screen. "Yes sir." said Tseng, regardless.

"You may have to expand your force." Rufus continued. "I'd recomend a new member or two."

"Yes sir." Tseng repeated. "I have a good candidate in mind." Rufus didn't hear him, taking a sip of the coffee and clicking open a new file. "Who's this?" he asked Palmer. Palmer looked at the image on the screen. "Ah, that would be only person the world qualified to the pilot the Shin-Ra #26, sir."

"The what?"

"The rocket, sir."

"Oh yes." said Rufus, recollecting another of his father's budgetry wastes. "Let's see, my we do keep a lot in intel. Interests, blood type, hmmmmm. Ex-girlfriend?"

Without turning his head, he glanced over at the Turks. Fujin didn't flinch, but he saw her one eye look at him for a moment, then straight ahead again. Rufus grinned. He was a firm believer that knowing everything about your enemies was important, but so was knowing everything about your allies, too.

"You sent for me?" asked Deling as he entered. Unlike the others, he didn't bother trying to show respect to the new President. Rufus, unlike the others, didn't care.

"Yes." said Rufus. "You were good friends with the former head of the Shin-Ra military, General Caraway, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was." Deling replied, his tone showing both his confusion at what this meant, and his indignation that his personal business mattered to anyone else.

"Good." said Rufus, then turned the screen on his desktop around so that Deling could see. There was a file photo of Rinoa filling the screen. "Rinoa Heartilly." said Rufus. "The leader of that little band of brigands. You know her, don't you? Well, I want to know _everything _about her. Strengths, weaknesses, vital statistics, friends, family, pets, where she likes to go on holiday, how much sugar she takes in her coffee. I want to know everything about her, you understand me?"

***

It was an hour and a half after the chase.

Zell streched and cracked his knuckles as they he stepped out onto the freeway. They were are at the very edge, the end of the road, where it must have collapsed some time ago and never rebuilt, only added warning lights. The jeep's hazard lights blinked on and off, with Squall's bike parked behind it. The purple mountains of the eastern continent were visible in the distance, and the starry sky hung over them.

"So, what do we do now?" Zell asked nobody in particular.

"I'm going to go back to what I was doing before." said Squall. He was standing on the very edge, facing the mountains, with his back to the others. He had his hands crossed over his chest, and his toes were only a few inches from the almighty drop. He looked back at them. "I'm going after Seifer."

"And this Seifer guy is in cahoots with this Ultimecia chick?" Zell asked.

"Seems so." said Squall.

"Then we're coming with you." said Rinoa, speaking for the first time. 

"R-Rinoa?" blurted Zell. She looked at him. "I'm sorry, Zell, but I'm going with him. One thing's for certain; we can't stay in Midgar. It wouldn't be safe for us, and it would be even more dangerous for the people we care about. You don't have to come if you don't want to. I won't make it an order."

Squall frowned internally. He hadn't even asked them if they wanted to go, and now it had already been decided. Strangely enough, he noticed, he was glad that Rinoa wanted to come along. In fact, arguing about her coming was the last thing he would do. Strange, that.

"Hey, I'm going anyways." said Zell. "I've got nothing for me here, but out there, there's an entire world that needs saving from the Shin-Ra! You couldn't teat me away!"

"Alright." said Rinoa, smiling.

"What about our magical friends?" Zell chuckled.

"Hey, I'm definately going." said Quistis. "I always promised myself i'd escape Midgar one day. I can't come this close and turn away now."

"But what about your home and stuff?" Zell asked.

Quistis sighed. "What home? The Shin-Ra found out where I live when they caught me, remember?"

"It's okay, Zell." said Rinoa. "I called my mom from a payphone a while ago. Xu and Adel are going to stay with her for a while."

"Oh." said Quistis. "That's very nice of her. I really hope she doesnt mind."

"Nah, of course not." said Rinoa, smiling. "She said she'd be glad. It's been a while since she had company, so it'll be a breeze. She was just a bit sad that she won't get to see me before I leave..."

The way she trailed off indicated just how close to her mother she was, and just how equally sad she was too. Quistis was also close to her adoptive mother, and felt a heaviness in her hearty that she wouldnt see her before she left either.

"Hey, don't worry, Rin." said Zell, patting her on the shoulder. "We'll come back when this is all over, right?"

"You betcha." said Rinoa, trying to smile.

"And what about the quiet one?" Zell asked, looking over at Edea. She was sitting over by the side of the road, looking at the night sky. A cool night breeze blew her long hair, trailing out behind her.

"There's somewhere I need to go." she said, looking over at the group. "I can't remember much, but I know that I came here to find you, Squall, Quistis and Zell ...and the others. There's a place I'm supposed to show you, only I can't seem to remember it. Some place across the ocean, far and away. I must to try to find it, and hope that my memories return."

"Hojo's mind-scan wears off eventually." said Squall. "They'll come back, just as mine slowly are."

"Would this place be the place where my mother sent her letters to you?" Quistis asked. "You are my Aunt Edea, aren't you?"

"Yes child, I am." Edea replied. "But where we must go is very far. Are you prepared for the long journey?"

"Been waiting all my life." Quistis replied, smiling.

"So, we're all going." said Squall, finally.

"This little group of ours is going to need a leader for the journey." Quistis stated. Everyone's eyes fell on one person. "Forget it." said Squall, flatly, in a tone that said if he was elected, his first act as leader would be to make his group take a long march off a short pier. Rinoa giggled at his reaction. "Guess it's me, then." she said.

"Well, you've been doing a good job so far." said Zell, grinning.

"So, leader, where do we go now?" Quistis asked.

"Oh, please don't call me that." Rinoa moaned, already starting to wish the group were all democrats at heart. "Um, there's a village northeast of here." she said. "Place called Kalm. It's probably as good a place as any to go."

"Aaaaaalrighty then." said Zell, already having found a long piece of chain that looked like it had been part of a contruction crane once that ran all the way down to the ground. "Shall we?" he said, and began to climb down.

In the distance, the sun was beginning to rise.

"What do you think we'll find out there?" Quistis asked anyone who listened as she looked at the sun slowly moving up over the mountains. "Simple." said Zell. "The world." and slid down the cable.

"Home." said Edea, and began to climb down after him.

Quistis looked at Squall and Rinoa. "Truth." she said, and started to climb down the chain.

"I don't know what I'll find." said Rinoa, honestly. "Maybe one of those things you were always looking for without really even knowing you were looking for it? Do you know what I mean, Squall?"

"Yeah." said Squall. "I think I do."

She smiled at him and thanked him as he helped her climb down.

And so they began their journey as dawn broke over the mountains, the sky beginning it's morning hazy glow. The sun began to shin weakly, breaking through the clouds and shining over the mountains, rivers and fields as they walked across, ahead on their way. Before long, the sun was fully up, and they had left Midgar's barren plains behind and were walking across the grassy fields of the overworld for the first time. With a cool breeze behind them and the warm sun on their backs, there was no doubt that this was a good omen to begin their long journey on, and that it was going to be a beautiful day, in this beautiful world.

__

"Heartland"

See the sunrise over her skin   
Don't change it   
See the sunrise on her skin   
Dawn changes everything

And the delta sun burns bright and violent

  
Mississippi and the cotton wool heat   
Sixty-six, the highway speaks   
Of deserts dry, of cool green valleys   
Gold and silver veins - shining cities

In this heartland - in this heartland's soil   
In this heartland   
Heaven knows this is a heartland

See the sunrise over her skin   
She feels like water in my hand   
Freeway like a river cuts through this land   
Into the side of love, like a burning spear   
And the poison rain brings a flood of fear   
Through the ghostranch hills, Death Valley waters   
In the towers of steel, belief goes on and on

In this heartland - in this heartland's soul   
In this heartland   
Heaven knows this is a heartland

  
Heaven knows this is a heartland

_ – Bono_

****

Author's Notes; This chapter is dedicated to Angela, or to her friends, Sadia "Biggie" Fiore. Not just for the picture of Squall and Galen for Omega, or for creating me a place to call home for my stories online. For being such a fantastic friend to me, and for finding a special place in my heart for you. This one's for you, Angela. =)

****

Author's Notes; "Heartland" by U2. Words by Bono. Music by U2. Keyboars by Brian Eno. Copyright © 1988 Blue Mountain Music Ltd. Recorded by Kevin Killen and Daniel Lanois at Danesmoat, Dublin.


	8. The Unforgettable Fire / Squall's Story

Chapter VIII; "The Unforgettable Fire / Squall's Story"

Chapter VIII; "The Unforgettable Fire / Squall's Story"

__

Ice  
Your only rivers run cold   
These city lights - they shine as silver and gold   
Dug from the night - your eyes as black as coal

Walk on by - walk on through   
Walk till you run and don't look back   
For here I am

– U2

Breezy.

Yeah, it sure was quiet in Kalm town. A far cry away from the sprawling technological polluted nightmare that was Midgar, that was for sure. It was a charming, idyllic town with a distinctly Dutch appearance.

Zell rested back in the comfortable leather chair and placed his feet up on the ornate wooden coffee table with a criss-cross of brilliant sunlight thrown upon it. Quistis's shadow indicated her presence, sitting right in front of the window with her elbows rested on the sill. She had been there for ages, with a serene smile permanently pasted on her face, looking out the window across the grassy roving green and blue fields, and the blazing summer sun that shone down upon them. 

Sitting opposite from Zell, Edea surveyed her cards quizzically. "Let me see if I understand this correctly." she said, brushing a strand of her waist-long jet-black hair out of her eyes. "Because we've entered another region, the Plus rule comes into effect, and the Open rule is negated?"

"Uh-huh, sure!" said Zell, still clutching four of his own, tightly. "There's no point in having a world-famous card game where the rules stay the same in every corner of the globe. You've gotta have style, you've gotta have finesse ...._individuality_, that's the word."

"But you are the only one who knows all the rules of how to play the game." said Edea, confused.

"Well, we're travelling the world now, aren't we? I'll have plenty of opportunities to introduce it to new places and people, trust me. And besides, that ain't true, Rinoa knows how to play." Zell replied, scratching the bridge of his nose.

"I was faking it." Rinoa called from the kitchen.

Zell blinked a couple of times. "No wonder I always won..." he said to himself. Come to think of it, he had never been beaten at this game once. It was a Herculean effort, inventing a card game all by yourself, then trying to spread it to the world. It didn't seem to help the fact that most people rated it as too confusing.

"Where did you even get the idea for this, anyway?" Edea asked.

Zell grinned. "Would you believe it came to me in a dream? Now, c'mon, shuffle or boogie."

Edea sighed and placed one of her badly chosen cards down on the Triple Triad grid. Zell chuckled quietly to himself and picked out an easily stronger card and flipped Edea's over.

Quistis looked back, smiled, then turned back and continued to look out the window, out across the vast world. After a few seconds, she was lost again, immersing herself only in the beautiful summer's day, not even hearing Edea and Zell's Triple Triad match, or Rinoa clattering around in the kitchen.

It was a rented house. At first, they had thought about a room at an inn, but Squall had pointed out that they were going to need a day or two to prepare for the long journey ahead. They were going to need provisions, supplies, weapon upgrades, and a map of the world. Zell had cursed himself when Squall had mentioned it, letting slip that there had been a Shin-Ra road map in the back of the jeep they had left back in Midgar. Returning to Midgar was out of the question however, which meant that they were limited to whatever supplies the small town of Kalm had. Rinoa may have been the team leader, but Squall knew the shopping list. While they sorted out accommodation, he said he'd handle the supplies.

So, that morning, when he'd gone off looking around the town, they had talked to one of the local landlords about renting a house for a day or two. For a fair price, they had leased a two-storey house on the far western side of the town, which had formerly been an inn in its day. Rinoa had paid for it, one of the benefits of coming from a rich family.

So now they were just taking it easy, waiting on Squall to return with the supplies. Zell was trying to educate Edea and anyone who would listen about the card game he had invented, while Quistis was admiring the lush green landscape. It had been years since she had been able to find a picture worth drawing. She had never actually given up on her art, she had just ran out of subjects. Midgar was that kind of place. It was hard to imagine Midgar breeding any kind of artist. Non-suicidal ones, anyway.

And Rinoa was in the kitchen, adamant that if they were going to be on the road for the next few months, they should at least all have a decent meal before setting out. Zell had of course suggested hot dogs, and then found out that few things in the world were more premptorial and domineering as Rinoa in the kitchen.

What everyone was really interested in, however, was just what Squall was going to tell them tonight. They had managed to force him to tell them his story. Admittedly, Rinoa had done most of the forcing. Squall had finally reluctantly agreed to tell it, but first he was going to look around the town for more supplies, get his head straight about all the facts, then come in and tell them.

Right now he was the Weapons Store, scanning his eyes over the fine displays of swords, guns and other assorted weapons that were on offer. Squall, of course, knew them all. He'd been trained in the use of every weapon there was to be known. When other children were being taught to learn the alphabet off by heart, Squall was learning how to disassemble and reassemble a semi-automatic rifle with speed and precision in record-breaking time.

Squall ran a gloved hand along barrel of a 40. gauge pump-action shotgun with a silver finish to the design. Displayed behind a sealed case was a twin pair of a Desert Eagle .50. They had a mahogany finish to the handle and a gold trim on the barrel and along the casing.

"You certainly got an eye for this stuff." said the storeowner, feeling somewhat proud to have a customer of such calibre in his shop. Pun intended. "Yeah, I got a lot of stuff here that's only worthy for a collector's eye. I travelled the world when I was your age, you see. Was a collector, myself. But now, well, you gotta feed the family, you know?"

Squall nodded and looked at a case of daggers. He passed by them quickly. He didn't much care for daggers. Sure, he'd been trained to use them, but they weren't his style. For one thing, they made you too close to your enemy for comfort. That made you a much easier target.

Out of a sense of security, he squeezed the handle of his gunblade faintly. He looked down at the blade. It was scratched and blunted slightly from coming into contact with the road surface back in Midgar. "I need to remodel." he said to the storeowner.

The owner looked at the gunblade. "Well, that's certainly an ....interesting weapon." he said, looking at the supplies on the wall behind him. "I don't think I've got much in remodelling tools for something like that."

"I'll need four Dragon Fangs, twelve rounds of Pulse Ammo and an Adamantine." said Squall quickly.

"Huh?" said the storeowner. "Hey pal, just what you see."

Squall sighed quietly and settled for a sharpening blade. "Anything else?" the storeowner asked. Squall just shook his head and walked out of the store. He stepped out into the daylight and wondered where to go next. Where he could find a world map was particularly challenging. Food wouldn't be a problem, though. He had found no shortage of Inns when he was out in the world, and even if he couldn't, he could still hunt and cook a wild animal if needs be. Although there was a chance Rinoa and Quistis would balk at the idea. Zell, on the other hand would happily eat the whole thing just to try and impress Squall. That guy _really_ needed a role model...

Squall was jarred from his thinking as a figure in yellow came racing around the corner and slammed into him. Squall staggered back but held onto his balance as the young girl fell to the ground, landing hard and comically on her bottom and her shopping and supplies fell all around her.

Squall glared at her. She was his age, or maybe even a year younger. She wore a yellow sundress and a pair of knee-high leather boots, and an interesting chain around her neck and a blue ribbon around her left wrist. She had well combed light-brown hair that came to an almost vertical curve behind and on either side of her head. She opened her eyes, a sparkling Gaelic emerald green, and grinned up at him sheepishly.

Squall silently stuck a hand out and helped her up. "You ok?" he asked. The girl straightened her dress and started to pick up her supplies. When she spoke it was in an unmistakable Irish/Scots accent. She obviously came from one of the towns up on the frozen Northern Continent. What she was doing this far south and seemingly all alone was anyone's guess.

"Sorry." she said. "I didn't look where I was going. But I'm okay, thanks. I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm real sorry. Darn it, this is all a big mess. I'm sorry, this is all just waaaay too out there for me. I'm just not cut out for all this planning and supplies stuff, you know? You ever have one of those days where you tell yourself you just should have stayed in bed? I have whole _weeks_ like that."

Squall said nothing, but bent to pick up some of her fallen items. He noticed a pair of Shinobou sticking out of a travel bag. He handed it to her. She took it gratefully in one hand and shook his hand with the other. "Thank you, she said. Hey, you're a real nice guy." Squall shrugged and just began to walk away when he stopped and saw the girl fumbling around in her travel bag and then he backpack for something, moaning "Oh no....oh no..."

"Did you lose something?" Squall asked, sounding like he cared. 

"Ick, my map, my mind...." the girl groaned. "I thought that life in Midgar would be tough when I left home but I never imagined life on the open road could be this bad without even starting!" As she talked, Squall looked around and saw a large sheet of paper trapped in the gutter. It was a world map. As the girl continued to talk, he bent down, picked it up and handed it to her. "Oh thank you!" she cried. 

"Where can I buy one of those?" Squall asked.

"Huh?" she said. "Oh, sorry, man. I got this one from a store back in Midgar. I don't think there's anywhere you can buy one here. I'm sorry."

Squall just waved it away with a sweep of his hand. "Don't worry about it." He stepped away again, then sighed, stopped and turned as he heard her fumbling with her bags and supplies again. Without her even asking, he took the heaviest one from her and held it easily in his hand.

"Thanks." she said, gratefully.

"Do you need a hand with this somewhere?" he asked, not even sure why the hell he was doing this. Maybe his pest of a conscience was back with a vengeance today. 

"Huh?" said the girl, unused to this kind of generosity, especially from a badass looking person like Squall. "Oh yeah, I'm sure you'd just love that." she giggled. "Helping to haul my luggage across land, sea and air, all around the world, battling monsters and traversing mountains, valleys and cliffs, encountering danger, your whole life flashing before your eyes. ....I've obviously had way to much coffee."

Squall hid a grin. The girl wasn't annoying or simple at all. She was just innocent. In fact, she kind of reminded him of Rinoa a little. Come to think of it, he'd been thinking about Rinoa a lot for some reason.

"No, it's okay." said the girl. "I've got a room booked at an inn. Thanks anyway." Squall handed her back her bag when she finally managed to balance all her supplies. "Well," she said. "I gotta go make a phone call. But hey, I'm going on a journey around the world. Maybe we'll bump into each other again, huh?"

Squall nodded to her and walked away for the last time. "...Whatever."

She watched him go. Man alive, he was good-looking. That scar between his cold blue eyes was soooooo cool, and the way he dressed made him look like he was a Rock Star or something. Give him a pair of shades and a microphone and let him keep the long hair and he could be the next big thing. Although, he was a bit on the quiet side.

She sighed and kicking the pavement with her heels, she walked off in the opposite direction he had gone. "Man," she said to herself. "Whoever snags that guy must be some classy babe."

* * * *

Rinoa belched and blushed as Zell and Edea stared at her. "Excuse me." she apologised and pressed her fingers to her lips while Quistis grinned. Squall didn't even seem to notice, finishing off the last of a steak.

"That was fantastic!" Zell exclaimed. "My compliments to the chef, Rin."

"You can thank me by getting Squall to finally tell his story." she said, smiling. All eyes turned to Squall. He stood up and looked at them. "So you're not giving up, are you?"

They nodded at him.

"And let me guess, you're not going to go on until I tell you all about it?"

They all nodded again.

"Fine." he said, scowling and walking to the back of the room. "Just don't anyone talk while I'm telling it, or I'll stop altogether." They all nodded yet again. He picked up his chair, turned it around and down, his legs open either side and his arms crossed and rested on the back on the chair. He was never used to talking more than a few sentences, and now they wanted his life story. As long as they kept quiet, he could shut his eyes, pretend they weren't there and imagine he was saying it just for himself.

"My name is Squall Leonhart." he began, closing his eyes and letting as much memories as he could come flooding back. "I'm a former SeeD, a member and a product of SeeD's Generation; NeXus project. It was started by Hojo, Gast and Odine for a purpose I never found out and was never to question. They took children from all over the world and trained them to be soldiers since the earliest possible age. We learned techniques and skills other SeeDs were never to be taught. I was taken by them from a place, I don't remember where but I know Adel and Edea lived there, along with my childhood friends Quistis Trepe and Seifer Almasy, as well as someone very close to me. Her name was Ellone, and she was older than the rest of us. Seifer and I were taken to be SeeDs. Quistis and Ellone were taken for ....different purposes. One day, Adel tried to help us escape. We failed. Seifer, Ellone and I were recaptured, but Quistis and Adel managed to escape. Hojo wiped some of our memories to prevent us from escaping again. I don't know what became of Ellone...

Seifer and I were always rivals in Generation; NeXus. We two always came out on top with the highest marks. It was always either him or me that scored first in all the training and exams. Seifer, however, was the one who graduated first. I came second. Despite that, they called me a failure. I had all the training and skills, but I lacked both the killer instinct and moral flexibility that Seifer and the others had. For this, I was made an outcast among the only people I had ever known.

Despite the failure of myself, Generation; NeXus were secretly deployed around the world on missions. Sometimes with regular SeeDs and sometimes alone.

Then, last year, in the late summer, I was sixteen and Seifer seventeen, we had our first, and last, solo mission together.."

***

Squall's Story, Part I; "An Cat Dubh"

__

Say goodnight   
She waits for me to put out the light   
When I'm still   
She waits to break my will

"This weather stinks." said Seifer, and popped a fresh wad of chewing gum into his mouth.

Squall said nothing and continued to load the ammo into his gunblade.

They were in the back of a military truck, on a bumpy ride along an old, almost-forgotten road. The windshield wipers did little to defend against the pounding rain and the driver was doing his best to keep to the road. Boxes and crates were strewn about the cab. Seifer stood near the back of the truck, his gunblade slung over his shoulder. Squall sat on a crate, seemingly oblivious to the world around him.

"We should be getting hazard pay for having to travel in this hunk of junk." said Seifer. "What do you think?"

".........."

"Huh. Quieter than a mouse's fart. As usual."

Squall said nothing. There was silence for a few minutes more, until he turned to the driver. "How far is it now?"

"Not far, sir." said the driver.

Seifer looked at them and grinned. "Heh. Sounds a bit like 'Are we there yet?' to me, Squall."

"...Whatever."

"Gods, you're frustrating." said Seifer, darkly. "At least pay attention, sometime. It's bad enough that I was given an autistic moron like you for company for the next few days, but you better not do anything to mess this up. This is MY mission, and I'm not going to have you foul it up. You were paying attention as to what the mission is, right?"

"...Of course." said Squall, barely paying attention.

"Then refresh my memory." said Seifer. Squall rolled his eyes. "That's an order." said Seifer.

"We're to investigate the area around a town called Nibeheim. The Mako Reactor there has been malfunctioning, and townspeople have reported seeing an increase of monsters in the area." said Squall. "Satisfied?"

"Not really." said Seifer, sitting down. "I can't believe that a warrior of my skill is being sent to investigate some brain-dead hick town where everyone probably plays the banjo and the only people who don't marry their cousin are the ones who already married their sister."

Squall didn't even care about the mission. At this point in his life, all he was was a soldier. If they gave him a target, he shot it. If they told him to kill, he killed. If they said jump, he didn't say how high, he just jumped. It was all he knew in life. All he was was a soldier. It was all he could ever be.

But sometimes, he'd catch himself wondering if ever could have been something else. And then remembered that that was what the others said made him a failure.

Suddenly, the driver yelled out, honked the horn and the truck swerved violently. Squall and Seifer were thrown around in the back as the truck careened out of control, spun off the road, fell on its side and smashed into a dead tree.

Squall got back on his feet first, Seifer followed suit. The crates and boxes were strewn all over the place, and the van was resting on its side. Squall tried the back door, but it was jammed into the frame. Finding his gunblade, Seifer cut an oval man-sized hole in the top of the cab, now a wall, and kicked it away. The cut left a ring of glowing hot metal around the hole. Squall and Seifer stepped out into the pouring rain and walked around to the front to see if the driver could be saved.

As Seifer pulled him out, Squall took a look around. The mountain road was dark but barren. He couldn't see anything large enough that the driver might have swerved to avoid like a monster or a fallen tree. He wiped some of the heavy rain from his face and pulled the soaking streaks of his long hair from his eyes. He walked back to the van to find Seifer standing over the driver's body.

"He said he saw a woman standing in the middle of the road in his headlights." said Seifer. 

"A woman?" Squall echoed.

"Yeah. Said she was tall. Weird, grey hair. Said she looked like a witch, and she didn't even move or anything. He said he thinks the truck may have passed right through her. Did you see anything?"

"No, there's nothing out there."

"Okay." said Seifer. "Let's get going, I don't think the town's far." As he stepped away, Squall stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. "We should bury him." he said.

Seifer looked at the driver's body, then back at Squall. "Fine." he said. "You stay here and bury him, and have a good bout of pneumonia while you're at it."

Squall glared at him.

"We'll call Shin-Ra when we get to the town and get them to take care of it, now come on! I'm soaking and this is my best coat!"

Without another word, Seifer set off, spitting out his gum and walking into the storm. Squall followed him, not saying a word. Behind them, a black cat leapt down from the top of the overturned truck, landed on the driver's body and fixed its moonlight-glowing eyes upon them.

* * * *

Squall stood on top of the well, clutching the cellular phone to his ear, but getting nothing but static. "Get anything?" Seifer asked. Squall shook his head, seeing "No Signal" on the readout.

"Not surprised." Seifer growled. "Those damn mountains. You'll never get anything through with them."

The mountains were like torn and ragged skeletons of what a mountain should be. In fact, in some ways, they resembled bones. Like the gigantic gnarled and twisted skeletons of gigantic vile creatures that must have been painful to look at. There was an old expression that if the mountains could talk, imagine the stories they would tell. If the Nibel Mountains could talk, it would probably sound like dark threats and demonic curses. They whole place just had an air of wickedness, as if something at the very heart of the land was sucking and choking up all the life in the mountains.

For the moment, though, all Seifer Almasy was pissed about how he was unable to make that call to the Shin-Ra. It was the day after, and last night's storm had put out the phone lines. So there was no way to call Shin-Ra until the lines were repaired. Squall had tried the cell phone, but the mountains were blocking the signal. So for the time being, they were trapped in the hick town. There wasn't even a car they could take when the mission was over. For the time being, they weren't going anywhere.

Seifer didn't like this town. They had taken a room at the inn, but all the people ever did who lived here was just look at them suspiciously and talk as little as possible. They reminded him of Squall that way.

The cold mountain air was constant, and the whole town itself was too quiet for comfort. The houses in the town had bolted doors, shuttered windows and the people tried to avoid going out as much as possible. It was like one of the those poor shat upon towns in the horror movies with the vampire's castle dominating the landscape above it. Seifer half-expected some elderly superstitious woman to force him to take a religious symbol with him before venturing up to the Mako Reactor.

These people were idiots and the place was as creepy as hell, but he couldn't wait to get the mission over and done with. 

"Let's head up to the Mako Reactor." Seifer ordered. "See what all the fuss is about."

Squall nodded and they set off. They passed by what the locals called "Shin-Ra Mansion" as they made their way out of the town. It had probably been fantastic in its youth, but now it was run-down and dilapidated, not used in years. It probably should have been condemned. 

"Wouldn't stay there if you paid me." said Seifer as they passed the gates. Squall nodded. "Let's go." he said. "The sooner we sort this out, the sooner we can report back."

Seifer grinned. "My, aren't you in a rush? Well, I don't blame you. I wanna get out of here too. This whole area sucks, and I want to get home soon. Got a girl waiting for me back home."

Seifer didn't see Squall roll his eyes. _Here it comes, yet more bragging._

"Yeah, a real looker she is." Seifer went on. "And classy too. Good-looking, smart, and more importantly, rich. Okay, go ahead. Say you're jealous. In fact, I _order_ you to tell me you're jealous. Hang on, I've got a photograph here somewhere."

Squall didn't bother to look at Seifer's stupid photograph. Already the guy's personal life was out of his head. He quickened his pace, stepping ahead, eager to get up into the mountains and finish the mission as soon as possible.

* * * *

"Man, why've they gotta build these things so damn far away from the town?" Seifer moaned. They had been walking for nearly half an hour. They'd encountered several monsters, but even a gigantic Ruby Dragon had been no match for the two greatest soldiers the world had ever known.

"Security." Squall said by way of an answer.

"Security." Seifer spat it like it was a dirty word.

"They have to build them far from the town for safety reasons." Squall explained. Squall and Seifer had been trained to take in and remember every fact they were exposed to. When Hojo had wiped their childhood memories, it was believed that a side effect would be to give them a more enhanced and heightened short-term memory, sort of like freeing up space on a computer's hard disk.

"If there's a Mako leak or the reactor explodes, having the reactor close to the town would be an intolerable disaster." Squall continued.

"My friend the walking encyclopaedia." Seifer mused. Squall reflected on the fact that this was the first time Seifer had ever called him 'friend'. "But what about Midgar?" Seifer asked as they slid down a stony embankment. "They got eight reactors in a ring around the whole city."

"Then you better hope nobody tries to blow one up then." Squall said sarcastically. If there's one thing Fate loves, it's irony. In spades.

"Whatever." said Seifer, stealing a catchphrase.

They came to a rickety old rope bridge. The other side loomed far in the distance, shrouded in a veil of mist. Peering over the edge, Squall could barely make out a rushing stony river, deep below a thin lair of mist. Seifer tested one of the wooden planks with his foot, placing his full weight down on it. It creaked ominously. The mountains on the other side were shadowy, as if taunting them to dare to try to make it over.

"Well, this isn't foreboding." sighed Seifer. "No siree."

"If we try to spread our weight when we cross, we should be safe." said Squall, holstering his gunblade. "Also, we should cross one at a time, to lessen the stress on the bridge."

Seifer nodded and just stood there. Squall glared at him, knowing what it meant. "After you." said Seifer. "Ladies first, after all." Squall scowled and stepped onto the first plank, keeping his legs spread on opposite ends of the old wood. Most of the time, the bridge held perfectly, but a few times the wood had creaked threateningly under him. One time, a plank snapped right under his feet. Squall had plummeted but caught the rope that held the bridge and pulled himself back up. Seifer was about to run for it and rescue him, but Squall was glad that he'd been able to save himself in time. If Seifer had ran across the whole bridge surely would have snapped and they'd both be dead.

Slowly but surely, Squall made it to the other side. Satisfied, Seifer began to cross it, making sure to stick to the same movements Squall had. Seifer was halfway across when suddenly, there was a drawn-out cracking sound that made them both stare at each other in horror. Squall's weight had already put too much stress on the bridge, and now it was finally giving. Seifer was too far across now to run back, so he started racing for the other side. Planks snapped behind him as the ropes unwound themselves. The rope in the centre of the bridge was unwinding and snapping at an alarming rate.

"He's not gonna make it." Squall hissed to himself. Rushing as fast as he could, Squall cut a long length of excess rope from one of the bridge's tethers and tied it to his belts quickly as possible with as strong a knot as he could make, then ran across the bridge towards Seifer.

Seifer wondered what the hell Squall was doing running towards him but still kept sprinting. Finally when they were just several yards from each other, the bridge finally snapped in the middle and fell away from their feet. They both leaped towards each other in that instant and caught each other in mid-air. As the bridge fell away, the rope holding Squall held and they swung down in an arc before hitting the mountain wall hard.

Seifer looked up at Squall as Squall looked right back down at him. It was hard work being rivals when you both secretly respected each other's abilities, were jealous of some things the other had, and were indebted to each other several times over. Seifer had saved Squall's life numerous times before, and vice versa. It didn't mean they had to be happy about it, though.

Using the length of rope, they began to climb back up.

Seifer looked across the bridgeless chasm. "Getting back to the town is going to prove interesting." Seifer sighed in frustration.

"I think there's another path to the town." Squall said. "There's got to be."

"What makes you so damn sure?" Seifer wondered, still looking at the chasm.

"It takes a lot of heavy machinery, equipment and manpower to build a Mako Reactor." said Squall. "You think that bridge held all the weight of Shin-Ra's construction equipment and personnel? Unless they built it in Midgar and just dropped it here from a helicopter, then there must be another path to the town." he finished with a dose of sarcasm.

You had to hand it to Squall, he was smart. The kind of guy who could learn to see what's not there. He'd learned that a clue to something wasn't something that was staring at you right in the face. In some cases, the _absence_ of something was as vital a clue as possible. Squall was a master of lateral thinking, something Seifer's cocky and headstrong personality lacked.

"Alright." said Seifer, not wanting to sound impressed. "Let's do what we came here for. The reactor can't be far. It'll be dark soon, so let's make it quick, I don't wanna get lost in these mountains at night."

They hurried on, this time at a leisurely jog. On the other side of the canyon, a black cat squatted atop where half the bridge was now vertical. It watched Seifer and Squall go, looking at them intently, as if judging them.

* * * *

The reactor looked little like the ones they had seen in Midgar. It was pretty much the same basically, but on a much smaller scale. They were walking around the outside of it, just looking around for anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey, Squall, we're supposed to investigate this thing because it's malfunctioning, producing monsters and all that, right?" Seifer said, giving lateral thinking a shot.

"Yeah." said Squall. "What's your point?"

"Well, I don't see any monsters round here, do you?"

Squall looked around. Seifer was right. Not a single monster, nor any sign of life around. Not a tree, nor even a single blade of grass was on this side of the Nibel mountains. Come to think of it, they hadn't fought a single monster on this side of the canyon. There weren't even any birds flying over it. It was like the animals and monsters were deliberately avoiding this place. And there was absolutely no life to be seen around. The land was completely dead.

Squall and Seifer looked at each other, noticing how the entire place had suddenly gone quiet, save for the quiet humming of the reactor and the hissing of the cold wind. "It's cold here too." said Seifer. He was right, the temperature was considerably cooler here than the rest of the areas they had crossed.

"It's too dark to head back to the village now." Squall said. "It'll be warmer inside the reactor. We can do our job and get some rest in there."

Seifer nodded and began to walk up the steps to the reactor's doorway. As he watched him go, Squall knelt down on one knee and removed one of his gloves, pressing his bare hand to the ground. He raised an eyebrow quizzically, then stood up and replaced the glove.

__

If it's so cold then why is the ground still warm to touch?

Squall found Seifer looking at the reactor's entrance. "What is it?" he asked.

"Squall, how often do people come here?" Seifer asked. There was something different about his voice. Before he'd been cynical, condescending, but still a bit jolly. But now he sounded annoyed. Another person would have been freaked out by all the strange things happening, but Seifer was just annoyed. But that was the way he was. As long as Squall had known him, Seifer had _never_ been afraid of anything. Say what you will about Seifer, but you could never say that the guy feared anything.

"Just about never." said Squall. "Only authorised people are allowed in, and nobody in the village works for Shin-Ra. A maintenance team comes by once every two years, because the technology in the reactor is self-sustaining. It runs off a percentage of the power it generates, and this stuff breaks down next to never. But it looks like nobody's been here in years. Why, something the matter?"

Seifer pointed with his gunblade. "Nobody been here in years." echoed Seifer. Squall's gaze followed Hyperion's point. "So why a new lock?"

Squall looked around behind them. He had that feeling you get when you're sure you're being watched. Seifer swiped his gunblade angrily. "Dammit, somebody's just trying to mess with our heads." he growled. "It's those redneck locals! Think they can have a bunch of fun messing around with SeeDs and having a good laugh back at the inn, huh? Soon as I find out who's idea it was, I'll cut 'em a new–"

"There's nothing we can do about that right now." Squall cut him off. "Let's just do the mission, then when we get back to the town we can sort this out."

Seifer looked at him. "You wanna raise a little ruckus too, huh?"

"I don't like being played for a fool any more than you do, Seifer."

Seifer shrugged and broke the lock off the reactor's doorway with his gunblade. They stepped inside, out of the cold and into the warming radiance from the Mako furnace of the reactor.

Around them, gears turned, levers turned automatically, steam pipes hisses and machinery hummed. The whole thing seemed to be working completely fine. 

"This is nuts." said Seifer. "The whole place is working fine! Who even reported that this bloody thing was malfunctioning?!?"

Squall shrugged. "Maintenance at Shin-Ra HQ received a call from this town. Someone called Lenore Mephist reported it."

Frustrated, Seifer kicked an old spanner someone had left lying around, then sat down against a wall with his gunblade slung over his shoulder. Squall did the same, holding his gunblade steadily and toying with it mindlessly.

Outside, the wind howled.

"At least it's not a total loss." Seifer sighed. "We had one or two decent battles on the way over here. What do you think?"

"...I don't know." Squall didn't raise his head. "I try not to think about it."

Seifer continued. "I love battles. I fear nothing. The way I look at it, as long as you make it out of battle alive, you're one step closer to fulfilling your dream."

Squall blinked and looked up. "What!? Your dream?"

Seifer looked at him, interested. "You have one too, don't you?"

"...Sorry, but I'm gonna pass on that subject." Squall replied, lowering his head again.

Seifer chuckled. "One of these days, I'm gonna tell ya 'bout my _romantic_ dream!"

Silence for a few minutes more. Eventually, Seifer looked over at a doorway to another part of the reactor. "Wonder what's in there?" he said, curious. Squall looked towards the black doorway. "...Whatever."

"Come on, let's go take a look. Anything's better than sitting here on our backsides." said Seifer, starting for the doorway. Eventually, Squall got up and followed him through.

* * * *

The humming machinery was much louder in here. It didn't look like this part of the reactor had been part of the original design. There were exposed sections of cave wall behind the rows and rows strange machinery that led upwards on a slope. A stairway in the middle bisected them.

"These machines don't look a damn thing like they're for generating energy." said Seifer.

Squall examined one, looking at the dials and readouts and trying to figure out which part of the machinery did what. "You're right." he said. "These aren't for generating electricity from Mako at all. It looks more like they're redirecting the energy flow towards..."

Squall and Seifer looked up the stairs towards a large strange-looking red doorway at the top. It didn't look anything like the rest of the reactor. It looked old and ancient. Above it the words were carved into the rock;

****

"Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec"

"What does it mean?" Squall wondered.

"Hell if I know." said Seifer. "I speak four languages, not one of which is complete gibberish."

"Whatever's behind that door." Squall began. "Is where all this energy is flowing towards."

Seifer bounded up the steps two at a time, his trenchcoat flapping behind him. "So what are we waiting for? Let's check it out."

Reluctantly, Squall followed him up. Seifer struggled with the door, only to find it sealed. He kicked it in frustration. "Blow it open, Squall!" he ordered. Squall raised his gunblade, unsure. Making up his mind, he spun it around in his hand and rammed it into the doorway. It didn't go in very far, though. Squall squeezed the trigger and a rush of energy shot into the blade. Instead of being blown to cinders, the door held. It was as if it had absorbed the energy from the blade, along with the energy the machines were supplying.

"Damn." Seifer hissed. "Alright then, let's cut it."

Squall nodded and the two jammed their gunblades into the door on opposites sides. Then, working simultaneously they began to cut the door right out of the frame with each man cutting his half of the door. They started in the bottom and finally, after what seemed like years cutting, met at the top. The door was still standing, but there was a ring of molten-hot metal in it. Together, Squall and Seifer raised their combat-booted feet and kicked it out of its frame.

"Finally." said Seifer, and stepped inside.

Squall followed. Something was wrong. He could feel it in the air. Indeed, the air was thin in this chamber. It was thin and vapid, undisturbed for years. Neon blue lights pulsed over cold metallic machinery. Who on earth had created this place?

Then, Squall looked at what Seifer was standing in front of.

It looked like a tomb. Or rather, a strange ancient alien version of a tomb. Covering it was a strange armour that looked like an angel, only the angel had been given demon's wings. It looked at them with its hollow soulless unseeing eyes. The machines all ran to this armoured tomb, and whatever it was protecting.

"What the hell is it?" Squall gasped. Seifer shook his head, lost for words.

"What's it hiding?" he said finally, examining the tomb. "What's it's secret?"

"Seifer..." Squall began, then stood back in surprise as Seifer began to slash at the figure of the angel with his gunblade. The metal was so ancient it had practically become stone, but crumbled to dust easily under Seifer's assault. He pulled the debris off it to reveal a glass tube. Inside, bathed in an eerie dark glow, was a woman. Squall and Seifer stared at her in wonder.

She was tall, even lying down. Her arms were crossed across her chest and perfectly feminine figure. Given the age of this place, she had to have been in that sealed tomb for centuries, but she only looked like she was in her mid-thirties. Long trails of unnaturally silver hair cascaded from her head. Facially, she was beautiful. Streaks of purple colour curled artistically from her temples past her sleeping yes. Her skin was pale and her lips as blood red as the figure-hugging robes that wrapped her body tightly. On her back, however, contradicting her angelic appearance were a pair of demonic black crow-wings.

"Is she dead?" Seifer wondered aloud. Squall leaned in close and looked at her face. There was a slight flickering under her eyes. "She ain't dead." said Squall. She was in REM sleep. She was looking at things in her dreams.

"We gotta wake her." stated Seifer.

"What?! No!"

"Why the hell not?" Seifer said, not taking his eyes off the woman. "Do you know what she is? She's a Sorceress! An honest-to-gods _Sorceress,_ Squall!"

"I......don't believe in Sorceresses." Squall said. Before this it would have been about as embarrassing as saying he didn't believe in the bogeyman, but it is hard to say you don't believe in something when it's staring you right in the face. There was something about the woman in the tube. 

Okay, he wasn't afraid to admit it to himself, he was scared. The woman terrified him, and Squall was _not_ used to fear like this. He was doing a great job of keeping it hidden, but his heart was thumping in his chest. The woman should be dead but she was alive somehow. She looked the woman the driver had described before he died. All of the weird stuff that had been happening was caused by her. Somehow, despite her imprisonment, she had used her power to lure them him here.

__

She wanted them here, and it was so.

"We should report this to Shin-Ra at once." Squall said, falling back on what he did know, what he was comfortable and familiar with. Rules. Regulations. _Procedure._

"Get a clue, Squall." Seifer snorted. "Of course they already know about her! Who do you think provided all this fancy equipment for her? What do you think's been sucking up all the life in these mountains? Shin-Ra aren't using the reactor to power Nibelheim, they're using it to feed her with energy."

"But still..." Squall trailed off. "We've got guidelines to follow. Standard Operating Procedure. We're supposed to investigate to find anything out of the ordinary and report it back to Shin-Ra."

"Hell with that." Seifer dismissed. "I'm waking her up."

"No you are _not_!"

"You giving me orders now, Squall?"

Squall said nothing but continued staring at him. Seifer looked at the tomb for a release mechanism. "I'm freeing her."

"You've been asked by your old comrade-in-arms." Squall said.

"There's gotta be a catch or a release or something..."

"You've been reminded of guidelines and SOP and _ordered _by your mission partner." Squall continued.

"Maybe if I break the casing it'll wake her automatically. I don't see a switch." Seifer said, ignoring him.

"Now you're being given your last chance by a man with a gunblade, step _away_ from the tomb!!" Squall ordered, drawing his gunblade up to Seifer's throat. Finally, Seifer paid attention. He stepped back, a superior smile on his face as he looked at the end of the gunblade and the hilariously sincere look in Squall's eyes.

"You gonna kill me to stop me, Squall?" he asked, raising his hands in a comic gesture.

"You gonna force me to?" Squall asked. Their eyes met. Seifer could be as jovial and cavalier as he liked, but Squall was deathly serious.

"Alright, alright." Seifer said finally, waving his arms around in frustration. "Have it your way, cry-baby. We'll go back to the town and call Shin-Ra, happy?!?"

Squall lowered the gunblade. "Very much so." he hissed darkly.

Seifer cursed and began to walk out of the reactor. Squall followed, walking behind him just in case Seifer tried anything. They left the reactor behind and looked for the second path back to the town.

Back in the tomb, the Sorceress's eyes continued to twitch about under her eyelids.

Her lips turned at the corner to form a cruel yet contented smile.

~*-*-*-*~

"We managed to find our way back to Nibelheim through a second path." explained Squall. Nobody in the room said anything. Edea and Quistis were listening intently, hungry for more. Rinoa was sitting the same way Squall was, her head rested on her arms and listening to every detail as it came. Zell was staring with his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

Squall continued, glad that nobody wanted to ask questions. "Seifer didn't say anything all the way back to the village. I didn't even try to talk to him. When we got back to the town, we were informed that the telephone lines had been fixed while we were away. I put in a call to Shin-Ra and explained the whole situation and what we had found. They told me to sit tight, and not to go anywhere near the reactor until back-up arrived. They were scrambling three entire SeeD units aided by some of Shin-Ra's best scientists and technicians. They had already taken off from Junon Air Base and would arrive at Nibelheim within a few hours. Until then, we were to make sure nobody entered or left the town.'

'I went to tell the news to Seifer, who as it turns out wasn't in the Inn at all, where he said he would be. I found him in the basement of the Shin-Ra mansion..."

Squall's Story, Part 2; "I Will Follow"

__

I was on the outside when you said  
You said you needed me   
I was looking at myself  
I was blind, I could not see

A boy tries hard to be a man  
His mother takes him by his hand  
If he stops to think he starts to cry  
Oh why?

If you walkaway, walkaway  
I walkaway, walkaway...

...I will follow

It was a hidden room. Squall had only found it by sheer luck, when he saw a secret door in the fireplace, wide open. He followed the secret passage down a long spiral staircase, and through a dark cave. He reached a secret library and found Seifer sitting at a desk reading a leather-bound volume. 

He looked up at Squall as he entered, grinned mischievously for a second and returned to his engrossing reading. Give him a fez hat, a pipe and a smoking jacket and he could have looked a veritable Noel Coward in that library.

"Seifer, what are you..."

"Listen here." said Seifer, interrupting him and pointing to a passage in front of his eyes. "X Year, X Month, X Day. Subject confirmed to be a Sorceress... X Year, X Month, X Day. Project; 'Promised Land' approved. The use of Nibel Mako Reactor approved for use..."

Squall didn't know what to make of it. Seifer, however, looked like he had struck gold. "The dates are crossed out, so we can't tell when all this was, but some of these books are pretty old. I'd say they go back to before when we were kids. Some of these books have been censored to the extreme, but this place is still a treasure chest for info about the Sorceress. They've been researching her here for years, Squall."

"I made the call." Squall announced, deliberately avoiding a conversation. "Our back-up will be arriving in a few hours. Until they arrive, we're to secure this town. No-one goes in or out."

Seifer looked at him, containing his rage. "Those bastards. They want her for themselves..."

"What?"

"It's no wonder she summoned the two greatest soldiers in the world here." said Seifer, his joyful laugher mixing with his bitterness to create an odd emotion. "She wants us to protect her, to save her from Shin-Ra. Whaddya say, Squall? Want to join me and be the Sorceress' Knight?"

Squall took a step back. "You don't know that's what she wants." he said, noticing he was being sucked into talking about the very thing he was trying to avoid. "She's in stasis. She's comatose. She's not aware of anything. She can't even hear your voice."

Seifer shook his head, disappointed. His eyes fell on a passage from yet another book wide open in front of him. He picked it up and read it for Squall to hear. "Check this out." he began. "This planet originally belonged to the Cetra. They looked a lot like us. In fact, they were exactly like us, only they all had incredible magical powers and abilities."

"...Seifer..."

"Then, one day, long, long, ago, a disaster struck our power. According to the legend, a creature named Jenova fell from the skies. It was a monstrous alien bent on wiping out all life. The Cetra began a massive war to fight it, but couldn't defeat it. So, instead of concentrating all their power into the planet to fight Jenova, they distilled their entire magic power into one person. Hyne, who because of this power became a supreme being, akin to a god. Hyne and Jenova fought, and Hyne destroyed her. After the battle, the Cetra found they had become us. They were human. They elected Hyne to serve as their leader, who did for many years. Then, one day, she decided to divide up her power and gave it to an order of women who worshipped her. Hyne vanished, and these women, the 'Descendant's of Hyne', became the first Sorceresses."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Squall dismissed. "Seifer, we're to–"

"After many hundreds of years, one Sorceress emerged who was different to the other. Other Sorceresses avoided Dark Magic to keep themselves pure, but she embraced it, and became much stronger than other Sorceresses. She was the ultimate Sorceress, and gave herself the name 'Ultimecia'. The other Sorceresses were far weaker, and Ultimecia began her quest to rule the world by reuniting the power of Hyne into one Sorceress. Herself. She waged war on the other Sorceresses, who united and fought back. They found her too strong, and unable to destroy her, they sealed her away in a geological stratum forever."

Seifer let the book drop to the desk with a heavy dusty thud. "Don't you get it, Squall? Ultimecia is the Sorceress in the tomb. She wants to be set free. She needs a Knight."

"...We need sleep. Let's go back to the Inn." Squall ordered, and was both surprised and relieved to find Seifer co-operating.

* * * *

They took it in turns to guard the town. One of them stayed outside while the other slept. Squall was starting to worry a little about Seifer. He hoped that back-up would arrive soon.

He leaned against the well and tried to think things over. He glanced up at the top window of the Inn where Seifer was sleeping. For the first time, Squall found himself wishing he was back in Midgar. This town was officially giving him the creeps.

He slumped against the well, resting his gunblade against his shoulder and hung his head. Okay, so there was all this stuff about Sorceresses, but that didn't matter, right? Shin-Ra and SeeD would show up soon enough and contain the scene, and Seifer and Squall would be sent home to await another mission.

A least, that's what Squall hoped. 

Before he noticed it, he was falling asleep...

* * * * * * *

~Dreamworld~

* * * * *

He was in a desert.

It looked like the plains went on forever.

Squall looked around himself and realized that he would be walking for a long time. He sighed and began walking.

Time passed and it felt like he'd been walking forever. After a lot of aimless walking, Squall's pace became slower and his steps became shorter. There was no way out of this desert. Yellow sand stretched four sides out, going on forever, and a blue sky hung overhead, completely unbroken.

He continued his aimless wandering through the shimmering heat haze, until he dropped to his knees, realizing how tired and thirsty he was. He looked ahead, across the shimmering sand, and saw a woman come walking out of the heat haze towards him.

It was the Sorceress.

Squall tried to run, but couldn't rise to his feet. He drew his gunblade, but it crumbled to sand between his fingers. The Sorceress smiled and helped him to his feet without a word. She grinned and kissed him with her blood-red lips. Squall felt his mouth fill with the taste of death. Disgust filled him, the bile rising from his insides to the tip of his throat adding to the wave of nausea's sudden onslaught. She tasted of rotten fruit, and of dead animals and insects rotting in a desert sun.

Somehow, he was able to pull away. He staggered back, suppressing the urge to vomit. She looked at him and laughed, and he felt the warm thick liquid on his lips. He touched it with a black-gloved hand and looked at it.

It was blood.

He spat it out onto the desert floor. She had filled his mouth with blood and the taste of taste. He looked over at her, still no words passing between the two. She grinned like a Cheshire cat, sucked some blood off of one of her fingers and smiled. He could see the red stain of blood in her mouth. Squall had no idea what to do. He couldn't run and he couldn't attack. He was trapped in this desert with a devil in Sorceress's clothing.

Suddenly, she made a movement with her arms, and the desert around them sped past in a blur. When the world stopped rushing past, Squall found himself standing at the very edge of a cliff, next to the Sorceress. She spread her arms wide, and he looked out across the view.

Cities and kingdoms from thousands of worlds were spread out below them. Squall recognized a few, like Midgar, but most he did not. He crouched down and looked at them closely. He could see Midgar, for sure, but other places he had never seen before but somehow knew the names of. Timber, Galbadia, Esthar...

He could see other cities, some bizarre and alien, some familiar but out-of-time, and others just plain strange. One city he could see was enormous. It was a cluster of about five or so islands, all packed to bursting point with tall buildings and skyscrapers. A city populated by millions. He looked to his left. There was a city dominated by a beautiful and extravagant castle, over a quaint city that looked like something out of a fairytale. A large reflective obelisk dominated the castle itself, and the people in the city seemed to be living happily enough. Some were human, others were not. Far off in the distance, he could see a collection of islands, though not much in the way of cities or kingdoms. It looked like the whole place was flooded.

Why was the Sorceress showing him all this?!?

He looked at her, and she smiled like a devil. "I'll give you all this." she offered, speaking for the first time. It was with a strange accent, like someone trying to get accustomed to a local lingo they'd only learned to speak by hearing others say it.

Squall looked at the hundreds of cities and kingdoms, and back at the Sorceress again. "Why?" he asked. Nothing comes without a price, he knew that.

"I will give you all these kingdoms and worlds to kontrol as you see fit." she offered again. "And all I ask is that you fall to your knees, and worship and serve me as my knight."

Squall immediately thought of backing away, then realized that being on the edge of a cliff, it was the last thing he should do.

"I will only offer once." said the Sorceress. "Make no mistakes, I _will_ have one of you serve me."

Squall looked at her offer again. All this to rule and all he had to do was be her knight? But she had made a mistake in asking Squall to rule. He was not a born leader. He was a soldier. He only believed in two things; his orders and his missions. Personal goals and quests were irrelevant. Dreams were irrelevant.

"One of you will serve me." urged the Sorceress. "To resist me is futility!"

Squall raised his head and glared at her. _No way. _She was a demon. He was a soldier. _He_ couldn't be bought. "Whatever." Squall said to the Sorceress. "It won't be me."

The Sorceress snarled and lunged at him. Before she could attack him, Squall felt himself spirited away from the cliff. The kingdoms and cities of temptations melted away beneath his feet, and the Sorceress scowled at him and vanished.

__

He turned around, trying to see where he was going. He saw waves rolling onto a smooth, yellow beach. Then, he began to fly, crossing the ocean.

"I'll be here..."

__

A voice? It sounded familiar to Squall, and at the same time, he couldn't place it.

"Why...?"

__

The sea beneath him became a rocky, dry sun-cracked desert.

"I'll be 'waiting' ...here..."

__

For a brief instance, he saw a figure in blue standing in a flower field. She was distant and far away, and he couldn't see her face. As quickly as the figure and the flower field appeared the image returned to a desert.

"For what?"

__

He had no idea where he was being taken in this dream, nor what was happening to him. Again, he saw the flower field, only this time the vision stayed, and by heavens it was a beautiful sight.

"I'll be waiting...for you...so..."

__

Someone else was here, Squall could feel their presence.

"If you come here..."

__

Yes, someone else was here alright. But did that mean that he could just feel a person standing the flower field with him, or that someone else was sharing this dream?

"You'll find me."

__

The wind picked up and caught the hundreds of flower petals, whirling them around in the air.

"I promise."

__

Then, Squall felt himself falling away from the dream. Reality was a distant light on the horizon, sucking him in like a black hole.

Back in the flower field, a hand reached out to pluck a flower petal from the wind. The hand grasped the petal for a second, before opening and revealing a glowing. The hand released it, and the bearer watched it float away out and freely into the darkening sky...

* * * * * 

~Dreamworld End~

* * * * *

Lightning split the sky overhead, and Squall awoke with a jolt. He hurriedly got to his feet, the strange dream still fresh in his mind. Thunder bellowed so loud it shook the ground beneath his feet. Squall turned and looked at the sky. There was something about the way the storm was rolling in. It wasn't right. It was unnatural.

The sudden horrible reminder of what the Sorceress had said to him immediately snapped into his mind, coupled with what Seifer had tried to convince him.

__

"Ultimecia is the Sorceress in the tomb. She wants to be set free. She needs a Knight."

"Make no mistakes, I will_ have one of you serve me."_

He decided it best to wake Seifer and tell him about the dream. He'd probably laugh at him and tell him to lay off eating his own cooking before sleep, but it would have calmed Squall no end just to simply tell him, no matter the result.

As he hurried towards the Inn, the stormclouds continued to gather.

"Seifer!" he called as he entered the Inn, ignored the strangely terrified Innkeeper and bounded up the stairs two at a time. "Seifer!" he shouted again over the rumble of thunder. He pushed open the door to their room and tried the light switch, only to find it wasn't working.

"Seifer." he said, and walked through the darkness to Seifer's bed. He stopped, squinting in the darkness. A brief, brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the room in an instant, throwing evil shadows around. For Squall, however, it just illuminated the last thing Squall wanted to see.

Seifer's bed was empty.

__

Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec

Squall rushed over to the window and saw Seifer walking casually across the town square, past the well. "Seifer!" Squall yelled but got no result. He rushed down the stairs and out of the Inn to catch up with Seifer. The wind was really starting to pick up now. It rushed and whipped around Squall as he ran up to Seifer. He called his name one more time. Seifer stopped and turned around. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Seifer, what are you doing?" Squall asked, raising his voice above the wind.

Seifer looked around, seeing the cowering peasants hiding in their little homes, terrified of what was to come. It seemed like there was something big about to happen, and Squall was the only one who hadn't been told.

"I had a dream, Squall." Seifer called out. "A little dream, sure, but it will lead me to fulfilling my biggest dream of all."

Squall felt the hairs rise on the beck of neck, and felt the gunblade handle for a sense of comfort.

__

Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec

"I'm handing in my notice, Squall." Seifer chuckled. "I've had it with SeeD, it's for beginners. I've graduated. Got myself a career now."

Squall drew his gunblade from his belts, holding it one hand, making sure to keep slow, steady movements so as not to startle Seifer.

"I'm the Sorceress' Knight."

Lightning cracked the sky wide open as a thunderclap exploded directly overhead. An icy wind blew between Seifer and Squall as they stared at each other. At one point the breeze became so powerful, Squall had to re-adjust his balance.

Seifer cocked his head to one side, as if seeing something both curious and entertaining. "There's a storm coming." he announced, then pointed up the hill behind Squall. "Her storm!"

Lightning flashed as Squall turned and looked up the hill. In the instant the lightning illuminated, Squall could see the Sorceress standing there, her eyes glowing like lamps. Almost as quickly as she appeared, she vanished. Squall turned back and looked at Seifer, who grinned.

__

Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec

"Let's get this show on the road!" Seifer yelled, and to Squall's surpise, levitated in mid-air in front of the well. He concentrated and let loose a burst of Firaga at the well, which exploded in a gigantic mushroom of flame. Squall was thrown back against the Inn wall and slumped down. Seifer yelled out in delight at his newly endowed power and proceeded to unleash dozens of fire blasts at the houses before landing back on his feet. He looked at Squall, who stared at him incredulous. Seifer flew a number of fire spells at him. Squall cried out as he flung himself out of the way before hitting the ground hard.

The world was on it's side. Squall watched, trying to shake off concussion, as Seifer drew his gunblade and slashed wildly at the foolish locals who tried to overpower him.

As the town began to burn, Seifer lowered his gunblade and stared at the destruction. "Now I've got an appointment to make." he said to nobody in particular. "You know the old saying. If you love something, set it free."

With that, he began to walk up the hill, heading for the reactor.

Struggling, Squall got to his feet, using his gunblade like an old man's cane.

He'd taken the Sorceress's offer, Squall knew it instantly. And she had provided him with power beyond his dreams. Squall grasped his side, sure one or two of his ribs were cracked. He surveyed the carnage around him, standing in the middle of Nibelheim as it burned.

Seifer had left him to die, and that made Squall mad. Only hours before he'd called Squall 'friend', and now the lure of power made him want to incinerate a town, unleash the most powerful Sorceress in history and leave his comrade-in-arms for dead, turning his back on everything.

And Squall was the only one who could stop him.

Fighting the pain and allowing his anger to fuel him, Squall took off, running out of the burning town in hot pursuit of Seifer.

__

Excitate vos e somno, liberi mei (Arise from your sleep, my children)  
Cunae non sunt (Your cradles shall no longer exist)

Squall came to the fallen rope bridge. Somehow, Seifer had managed to cross the chasm safely to the other side. It was no wonder, really. The Sorceress was supplying him with power. Squall couldn't afford to waste a second. If Seifer made it to the reactor, he'd awaken her and there would be no telling what kind of havoc they'd wreak on the world.

Squall took a running start, throwing all his energy into his legs. He was an accomplished gymnast, he just hoped some of those skills would finally pay off. He reached the cliff edge and jumped, soaring across the chasm. As he fell the cliffs on the other side came rushing towards him. Squall flipped, straightening his body out and collided with the cliff wall, clinging to the precious section of rope from the fallen bridge that had already saved him and Seifer before.

Ignoring the pain, Squall climbed up the rope, arm over arm before hauling himself over the side of the cliff. Getting to his feet, he broke into a run, heading down the beaten path towards the reactor.

__

Excitate vos e somno, Liberi Fatali (Arise from your sleep, Children of Fate)  
Somnus non eat. (Abandon your cradles)  


"Seifer!" he yelled, bursting into the Sorceress chamber with his gunblade drawn. Seifer was ignoring him, down on one knee in front of the entombed Sorceress. "My lady..." he began. "This world is yours by right. I shall stand by your side and defend you as you take it back."

"Seifer!" Squall bellowed. "I've had enough of this madness! Step outside! Let's finish this _now_!"

Seifer chuckled hollowly. "Yes, my lady, he was always a reject." Seifer stood up, turned round and looked at Squall. "With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, Lady Ultimecia was destined to become the ruler of this Planet." 

Squall tightened his grip on his gunblade, ready to swing. Suddenly, his hand began to tremble involuntarily. Against his will, his fingers were prised from the gunblade's handle. The gunblade floated out of his grip and shot up through the ceiling, already lost among the clouds.

Squall looked at Seifer, who grinned and turned back to Ultimecia's tomb. "But they........Shin-Ra.... those worthless bastards, want to steal the planet from her. Well, that's not gonna happen...... because she's free at last!"

Drawing his bloodstained gunblade, Seifer began to slash away at Ultimecia's tomb. Sparks flew, wires cut and gases spewed out. The entire cavern was filled with mist. Squall coughed blindly, trying to fight his way through the luminous blue gas. A gloved hand reached out and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off his feet.

"So you wanna take this outside, huh?" Seifer said with a malevolent sneer. "Fine then, let's duel, Squall"

Squall was lifted and thrown out of the chamber. He was pulled out of the reactor by unseen hands and hurled onto the ground outside, dumped unceremoniously like a drunk kicked out by a bouncer.

"Our lady will be joining us shortly." Seifer announced, appearing in the doorway. "But first, I'd like to take you up on your offer. Let's finish this."

Squall got to his feet with a struggle. He was injured pretty badly. He reached under his white shirt and felt a trickle of blood there. "You're out of your mind, Seifer." he panted.

"Yeah." Seifer replied with a manic grin. "Ain't it cool?"

"I'm serious." Squall said. "Your mind is taking a long walk off a short pier. You've got a head full of bad wiring and all this is giving you a short circuit."

"I don't think so." mused Seifer, strolling down the gangplank. Blue mist poured out behind him. "I think I'm more awake and aware than I've ever been in my life. This is my destiny, Squall. I've woken into a dream."

"What about all you've got back home?" Squall asked. "SeeD? Your career? Your girl?"

Seifer feigned thinking about it for a second. "Fuck 'em." he announced abruptly. "You got any idea what Ultimecia's promised me?"

__

Yes, I do Squall thought. 

"Enough chat, I don't have a lot of time." said Seifer, raising his gunblade and pointing it at Squall. "Let's do this."

Squall stood there, glaring at him. He opened his palms, showing he had no weapon. Lightning cracked the sky overhead, and his gunblade came falling down, twisting end over end, and crashing noisily into the ground. It buried its blade in the ground, leaving the handle pointed towards Squall.

Squall looked at the swirling clouds. For a sheer instant, he thought he could almost see an image of Ultimecia illuminated against the lightning clouds, as if eager to see the duel herself.

Lightning flashed three times consecutively. Squall looked at his gunblade, his opponent, and felt his necklace for a second.

He grabbed his gunblade by the hilt and charged at Seifer. He swung it round in a full arc at his target, preparing to strike...

__

Surgite (Arise)  
Inventite hortum veritatis (Discover the garden of Truth)  


Seifer and Squall rushed toward each other, a smile etched on Seifer's face, a sense of worry locked on Squall's. Seifer spun around and swung his gunblade. Squall raised his and blocked it. Seifer pulled away as the two continued to try and knock the other's weapon away.

__

Ardente veritate (Brilliant truth)  
Urite mala mundi (Burn the heavens of evil)

Squall swung, but missed Seifer who dodged easily. Seifer smiled superiorly and used his free hand to beckon Squall, taunting him and showing utter disdain for his opponent's abilities. Squall ignored this, continuing the fight, blood still drawn from neither. Sparks flew when the blades collided.

__

Ardente veritate (Burning truth)  
Incendite tenebras mundi (Set ablaze the heavens of darkness)

They began to fight more wildly than before. Squall viciously attacked Seifer four consecutive times, and though Seifer managed to block all four of them, he staggered back, unprepared for the onslaught. Squall was fighting injured, and Seifer at least ten times more powerful than he had ever been. Any other man would have surely been dead by now, but Squall continued to fight.

Seifer knocked Squall's gunblade away and tried to hit him. Squall ducked back out of harm's way and grabbed his weapon. He spun it coolly over and over in one hand and then charged forward, left hand first.

__

Valete, liberi (Prevail, children) 

Diebus fatalibus (Fated day)

Seifer had had enough of this. He had expected to run Squall through for his insolence right after he had taunted him, but the undaunting bastard still kept on coming. He concentrated and held out his hand, drawing a Firaga spell, which he then unleashed, full-blast on the charging Squall.

Having fire Junctioned to his Elemental defense was the only thing that saved Squall from becoming a pile of still-smoking ashes on the ground, but the blast flung him back. He crashed onto the ground, landing hard on his back. As he struggled to shake the blast off, he tried to rise groggily to his feet.

He saw Seifer standing over him, sneering. Everything suddenly started to go slow motion.

__

Fithos lusec wecos vinosec   
Fithos lusec wecos vinosec   
Fithos lusec wecos vinosec   
Fithos lusec wecos vinosec

Seifer raised the gunblade, ready to strike, ready to sever Squall's head permanently from his neck. Time slowed down for Squall. Images from his life flashed before his eyes, the first of long-sealed memories exploding briefly into his mind. _Quistis, his childhood, another Sorceress, a place far away, and the flower fields he had seen in his dream earlier. _

Seifer's blade came down...

__

And the figure, clutching a ring, standing in the flower field.

Squall ducked his head back in time to avoid it being sliced off by Seifer's blade, but didn't move quick enough to avoid all of it. An explosion of pain concentrated on a pinpoint right between his eyes. Flesh tore in a second, and a spatter of hot blood cascaded down his face and splattered on the ground in a crescent shape. Unable to believe what had just happened, he looked up in anger at Seifer. Blood poured down his face, his vision in his left eye a sea of red.

Squall snarled and stood up, sliding his foot out beside him for balance. He'd reached his limit's breaking point. He pulled his gunblade out behind him, leaving a sparking trail along the ground. He swung it upwards, and the tip slashed Seifer right between the eyes, leaving a mirror image of his own wound.

Seifer staggered back, incredulous. He had never seen his own blood before.

The two of them screamed battle cries and lunged at each other one last time. They swung their gunblades at each other, completely unexpected for the sudden feeling of time slowing down around them. The air seemed to grow tense and hard, and they hung there, lunged at each other in mid-air, weapons akimbo for what seemed like hours. The world moved around them, as if paused.

Then, beside them, the reactor exploded. Ultimecia emerged from the explosion, triumphant.

They were torn from each other and sent hurtling in opposite directions. Squall rolled down an embankment, continuing to plummet down a hillside, over and over, rocks beat and stabbed at his body. He came crashing to a halt into a riverbed, and felt a sickening snap as his leg twisted. The water rushed over him, and he pulled himself up onto the dry land. He struggled to move, but the pain was too great and he was exhausted. Fighting with every last ounce of strength he could muster, only to find it wasn't enough, he collapsed and passed out on the dry stony ground.

* * * *

He awoke to the sounds of birds nearby.

Squall opened his eyes and groaned. He sat up, and then was painfully reminded of his injuries. He tried to stand, and counted his blessings that at least his leg wasn't broken, only sprained, he guessed. Using his gunblade as a cane, he began to climb the hilltop, back towards the reactor to see if he could find what had happened after he blacked out.

__

Seifer had awakened the Sorceress, and she had taken him as his knight.

Sure enough, the reactor was in ruins. All there was left was a crater and rubble. The smoke had long dissipated. Squall looked up into the sky. The storm had long cleared, and the sun had come out. He could see birds in the sky and animal's in the distance. The life was slowly coming back to this place. Because the reactor and the Sorceress were gone.

Knowing that there was going to be no way he could swing across the chasm in this state, Squall began to take the second path, the longer one, limping back towards the town.

...Which, he found when he got there, was in ashes. Only the shells of houses remained. There were no sounds in the dead town, not even the wind. The only sound to be heard was Squall's footsteps on ashes. Bodies were strewn about the place, most of which were not complete. An arm here, a leg there. A torso...

Squall looked away and retched loudly. He'd seen some terrible things on a battlefield in his time, but this was no battlefield. This was a massacre. Seifer and the Sorceress had come into the town and cut the people asunder. SeeD and Shin-Ra had offered little resistance...

Squall noticed them for the first time. A lot of the dead were wearing SeeD uniforms, and there was quite a number of Shin-Ra soldiers with them. And quite a few dead Shin-Ra scientists.

Not looking the dead SeeD in the eyes, Squall searched a body and found the SeeD's mission orders. "Sortie to Nibelheim immediately." he read quietly to himself. "Seize the town and detain population. Two SeeDs already at location, may be aware of crippling information. Find out all they know about the situation. If they know too much, execute them on site. Second team to be deployed into the reactor and verify that the Sorceress is still contained and machines have not been tampered with. Upon confirmation..."

Squall stopped reading and scrunched up the paper in disgust. So he and Seifer had been considered expendable? Seifer was right, they had only wanted the Sorceress for their own ends. There was no way either of them could go back to Shin-Ra now. Seifer was now in league with the devil, and Squall, well, as soon as a rescue team arrived and found him sitting amongst the wreckage, it would only be a matter of seconds before somebody ordered him shot.

But that was the thing. If they didn't find him amongst the dead, they'd assume he was the only survivor and hunt him down like a dog. They'd listen to all he had to tell them about Seifer, and then execute him like he was nothing.

__

Well, hell with them Squall thought. He was through with SeeD and Shin-Ra. He was going solo. But first, he'd have to make sure Shin-Ra weren't going to follow him.

He walked over to a deep pool of water, were some of the stored water from the well had fallen from it's container. He found the shattered overturned container, stuck his face in and began to wash the dried blood off his face. 

Finding a medical kit, he began to dress his wounds himself. Not an enviable task. He treated and dressed the wound between his eyes, sure as certain that it would leave a scar. For the time being, the dressing kept his left eye masked.

Then he set about erasing his existence from Shin-Ra's all-seeing eyes. One corpse that was burned beyond recognition practically lay stretched in front of him. Squall searched the dead SeeD, finding his ID card and a cigarette lighter. Squall removed the ID card and replaced it with his own, making sure to burn it slightly with the lighter so it would be inconspicuous, but made sure it was his picture and details that were still visible. He switched his own dog tags with the dead SeeDs. Seifer's Firaga blast had left most of him completely unscathed, but his tags had been scarred from the heat.

Finished, Squall stood up and looked around. _I guess that's all _he thought. He then realised he was absent-mindedly toying with his Griever chain. True, planting it on the dead SeeD would have helped him bury his past forever, but he didn't want to part with it. He'd had it for longer than he could remember. He couldn't even remember where he had gotten it from.

There was a lot things about his early childhood he couldn't remember, he realised. Maybe it was time for some answers?

Taking one last look at the smouldering remains of the town, Squall decided it was best to leave quickly, before the Search & Rescue teams came looking. And with that, Squall strode out of the dead town, and wandered out into the wide world.

* * * *

It was such a strange thing for him. He'd never seen the world outside of battlefields and missions before. Sure. He'd been sent to a lot of places, but when it was over, he just returned to the Shin-Ra HQ and kept in training until his next mission. Now he had nowhere to go, and nobody to turn to.

After wandering through the mountains and across fields for hours, he came to an old run-down abandoned shack. It was here Squall stayed for some time. He built a fire and waited for his wounds to heal. He trained extensively and built up his strength as much as he could. There would be no point in letting his skills go to waste. He could use them to survive in the harsh world.

After about a month or so, Squall left the shack and continued on his way. He was mostly fully healed by now, and didn't have to use his gunblade anymore. He stood in front of the mirror one day and peeled off his dressing strip by strip. His left eye was still a little sore, but the wound Seifer had made was completely healed, save for a prominent scar, a diagonal slash between his eyes. Seifer probably had a mirror image of the scar himself. The Sorceress surely would have healed him instantly, but nowhere near quick enough to stop a scar being formed.

After many days journey, Squall came to a small town on the other side of the mountains. He seeked food and shelter, only he had no money. The townspeople said he could work for food and board. Using his skills, Squall hunted monsters and defended the town in exchange for shelter. He was exceptionally good at it, and some of the people wondered how such a young person could have the skill and demeanour of a hardened old battle soldier.

The people thanked Squall for defending the town, and gave him food and provisions. Squall was a little taken aback. He was only carrying out his missions for payment. Why would people show a soldier an act of kindness? The outside world was strange indeed.

After making enough money to continue his journey, Squall left the town. Strange that they seemed sad to see him go. What was a soldier to anyone?

He could have stayed, he knew that, but it wouldn't have been right. Seifer and the Sorceress were out there somewhere, ready to wreak havoc upon the world. Shin-Ra wouldn't stop them. Seifer they would try to destroy, but not Ultimecia. They would just try to harness her power again. That meant that Squall was the only one who could stop them. He was the only person who had ever even survived an encounter with them. It was solely up to him. He had to find them and stop them.

And then what?

Then ........then................he would.......he didn't know, he'd worry about finding them and stopping them first. So, he became a mercenary, travelling from town to town, city to city, looking for Seifer and Ultimecia. Always one step behind, he was. Sometimes he'd find a monster, slashed open by a gunblade, other times he'd only find a farmer saying he'd seen someone matching Seifer's description. The closest he usually came was hearing ghost stories about the Sorceress in some Inn in a backwater town whenever he asked. It was becoming a sad but true fact that he was much better at being a mercenary then he was at tracking Seifer. He was always one step behind.

He ended up living his life on the road for a whole year. He was stronger than he was before, and knew the ways of the land better now. Only seventeen and here he was, crossing fields and valleys with the sun on his back, or running along the hilltops of highland mountains like he was their king. In secret, he was beginning to really like the outside world. Things like the way the sun would burst out from behind the clouds, and in an instant the shade of green on the grass beneath his feet would change. He soon became an accomplished mountaineer. He couldn't explain it, but it was a thrilling sensation when he finally scaled a large mountain, and found himself looking down into a lush green pasture and lake, hidden from human eyes for who knew how long. He knew the beaten pathways of the mountains, the best spots to hunt deer, fish and all sorts. He crossed deserts and slept under the stars. He scaled mountains, ran through fields, but he still could never find Seifer and Ultimecia. He had no idea what they were up to, but wherever they went, he would follow them.

His journey one day brought him back to Midgar. Making it a point to avoid Shin-Ra, he stayed in the slums. He found out how Shin-Ra had covered up the events in Nibelheim. There wasn't even a scrap of information about it in any of the newspaper archives. There weren't even obituaries for the people that had died. Understandable why he wasn't there. Generation; NeXus didn't even officially exist. He did, however, manage to break into Shin-Ra's mainframe. All information regarding Nibelheim was restricted. When he looked under personnel files, he found his name, and next to it, in chillingly bold red letters; 

"K-I-A."

Well, at least Shin-Ra believed he was dead. He'd succeeded in making sure they didn't come looking. It had been a full year since the events in Nibelheim now, and he had found barely any leads on Seifer and Ultimecia. Shin-Ra had SeeD looking for them too, so it was still a race against time to see who got to them first. He needed to take another job as soon as possible, one that paid good money. He needed to be out of the city and ahead on his way quick as he could.

He remembered the resistance groups based in the slums. His unit had never been deployed against them, but he had been briefed on them. They were self-proclaimed eco-warriors, but most of the rebel bands just had four or five members, and were always on the lookout for others to enlist in the fight against Shin-Ra.

He didn't have to think long and hard about it. Use his skills against Shin-Ra? Why the hell not? They'd considered him expendable, after all. They lived on an empire of lies. It was only right that their dirty little secrets should come back to haunt them.

And so, it came to pass that a few days before the Sector #8 Mako Reactor bombing, Squall Leonhart was sitting in slum bar when he was approached by a girl, slightly older than him with trim brown hair, who introduced herself as Xu.

"...We hear you're looking for a job..." she began.

*~*~*~*~*

"...And that's it." Squall finished.

The room was completely silent. Edea and Quistis were fascinated. Rinoa looked like she had a lot on her mind. Zell was just staring wide-eyed. It was a while before anyone spoke.

"And that's it?" Zell parroted.

"You were expecting more?" Squall asked.

"Nah, just it was a little short, but wonderfully told, good character narrative, and incredible special effects. Two thumbs up." Zell chuckled away the creeps Squall's story had given him.

"So it's true..." murmured Edea. "Ultimecia, the ultimate Sorceress, has been freed from her sleep."

"That's right." said Squall. "It was her and Seifer who ransacked the Shin-Ra building, I'm sure of it. And I think they were trying to get at us that night."

"I can't believe it." said Quistis. "Seifer, our childhood friend."

"He probably doesn't remember our pasts together." replied Squall. "I didn't until I met you back in the church."

"Well, whoever they are, they're both bad news for the planet." Zell stated. "I don't care how powerful they are, Squall's right, they gotta be stopped."

"Quistis is the only other Sorceress." announced Edea. "We have to make sure Ultimecia doesn't claim her power, or all will be lost."

"Well, if we wipe out this Ultimecia before she gets a chance to, it shouldn't be a problem, right?" said Zell, placing a hand on his hips and crossing one leg behind the other.

"Their assault on Shin-Ra is the first lead I've had on them in a long time." said Squall. "I don't know what they've been doing all this time, and I don't care. I have to stop them. It's my ....responsibility."

"Shin-Ra are looking for them too." Quistis stated. "And us. It'll be a race against time."

"Then let's not waste any more time!" Zell exclaimed. 

"Right." said Quistis. "We should ask around town, see if anyone's heard about or spotted Seifer and Ultimecia. We've got all the supplies we need, save a map, so let's look around and meet back in front of the town in half an hour. Agreed?"

Everyone nodded and began to leave, until there was just Squall and Rinoa. When Squall began to step toward the door, Rinoa spoke for the first time.

"...It's me..." she said softly.

Squall stopped and looked at her. "What?"

"The girl in the photograph Seifer tried to show you." Rinoa whispered. "It's me. I was the girl he had waiting back in Midgar."

"Seifer was that first boyfriend of yours you told me about..." Squall said, understanding, not sure how he felt about this.

"He went away on a mission that summer and never came back." Rinoa said, looking Squall in the eyes. "I thought he just dumped me and found someone else, but I can't believe..."

"I know, I couldn't believe he turned so easily too." Squall murmured.

"If you catch Seifer, will you kill him?" Rinoa asked.

"I don't know." answered Squall, looking out the window. "I hope it doesn't come to that, but he may leave me no choice."

"I hope it doesn't come to that too." Rinoa said, standing up. "Maybe if we defeat Ultimecia, we can release Seifer from her influence?"

"Maybe." Squall mulled it over. "But we'll have to go through Seifer to get to Ultimecia. She's increased his power ten times over. He'll be pretty tough to defeat."

"I'm prepared."

Squall nodded. He liked that about Rinoa, the way she always evaluated the emotional cost of a mission beforehand, and prepared herself. Squall had been trained to just do the mission. Point, shoot and kill. But Rinoa was......she was more.......she was _human._ She wasn't a soldier, caught up in this. She was just a normal person, trying to cope with the situation. It was something that fascinated him right out. Would that be what he could have been like if he hadn't been a soldier?

She had innocence, it fascinated him. _She_ fascinated him.

* * * *

The smooth, clear grassy plains soon gave way to gently sloping hills. After meeting up outside the town, Zell and Quistis reported that someone had seen a guy with blonde hair and a grey trenchcoat heading East across the plains towards the marshlands. 

After walking for about forty minutes or so, they heard a shout behind them. 

"There you are!" 

Everyone stopped and turned to see a light-brown haired girl in a yellow sundress and a pair of knee-high leather boots standing atop some rocks. She tried to walk down them, but tripped and stumbled. She landed on her knees and looked up at. She then grinned, poking out her tongue and winking one of her deep-green eyes. 

Squall recognized her instantly as the girl he had met back in Kalm.

"Wait a minute..." she said, standing up and looking at Squall. "You're the guy who helped me back in town, right!? Thanks! You really are a nice guy!"

There was some confusion. Hoe anyone could think that about Squall was certainly pause for thought. "...Yeah, I remember you...." Squall said coldly. Rinoa stifled a grin.

"Who are you?" Quistis asked.

"Oh right!" exclaimed the girl, as if noticing the others for the first time. "Which one of you is Rinoa Heartilly?"

"I am." said Rinoa, just as curious as the others.

"Hiya!" said the girl, taking Rinoa's hand and shaking it. Then, she stood up straight and saluted Rinoa. "Selphie Tilmit of the Mako Hawks resistance faction, ma'am."

"The Mako Hawks?" Rinoa echoed.

"Yeah." said Selphie. 

"What are you doing here?" Zell asked.

"My whole team, the Mako Hawks were attacked and wiped out by Shin-Ra the night the Sector 7 plate fell. I was the only one who managed to get away. I remembered one of the rules that if returning to your own team is no longer an option, you're to report to the closest possible team, in which case it was the Midgar Owls. When I arrived, though, Sector 7 was already flattened, and your team was long gone. I thought _all_ the rebel groups had been defeated, so I decided to flee Midgar and made it to Kalm."

Everyone listened as the new girl, Selphie, continued her story. "I was planning to return home, back to the Northern Continent, and when I was buying supplies in Kalm, I overheard your name, Rinoa, and realized the Midgar Owls must have escaped too. I still want to return home, but I don't fancy travelling alone. There's safety in numbers, right?"

Rinoa scratched her eyebrow and frowned in thought. "Mako Hawks...." she said, trying to remember. "Oh, right! Selphie! I've heard of you. You were their messenger, right!"

"Right!" said Selphie, glad Rinoa remembered. "So, what do you say? Can I travel with you guys 'til we get to my hometown?"

"I dunno." said Zell, as if the decision was his. "We don't even know where we're going for sure, and it could be a long journey."

"My home in Midgar was destroyed." said Selphie. "I've got nowhere else to go."

"Well, I don't think anybody has any objections." said Rinoa. "We're all going to try to find an evil Sorceress and stop her. Things could get dangerous."

"Hey, don't go thinking I'm just some little girl here." said Selphie, drawing and swinging her shinobou with expert ease, then sheathing them just as quickly. "I was a resistance fighter too, you know? I can well defend myself, and I've got some kick-ass Materia."

"Well, we could always use an extra pair of hands." mused Rinoa. "And you're right, there's safety in numbers. Welcome aboard!"

"Thanks!" said Selphie, happily.

"Let me introduce everyone." Rinoa began. "I'm Rinoa, you know me. This guy here is Squall..."

"We've met." Selphie giggled.

"Whatever."

"This is Quistis. She's a Sorceress."

"Pleasure to meet you." said Quistis, smiling and shaking her hand.

"Wow, I never met a Sorceress before." exclaimed Selphie. " I didn't even think they existed. It's nice to meet you too."

"And this is Edea." Rinoa introduced her to the eldest of the group. Selphie blinked at the sight of her. There was something familiar about her. Something warm, comfortable...._maternal_, about her. Edea had the look of recognition too. "Have we met?" Edea asked.

"I'm not sure..." Selphie trailed off, shaking her hand slowly.

"Um, Edea's a former Sorceress." Rinoa explained. "She's recently lost some of her memories, but before she did she claimed to have known us from somewhere. Um, I guess that's everyone."

Zell coughed.

"Oh." Rinoa began, grinning. "Except for the Chicken-wuss."

"WHAT DID YOU SAYYYYY!!!?" Zell bellowed, practically exploding. 

Selphie seemed to see him for the first time. "...Hm? Since you're so angry, I guess you're the Chicken-wuss." 

Zell was dumbfounded. "What the...!!!" he stuttered. "WHY IS EVERYONE...? I am not a CHICKEN!!!" Selphie stifled a laugh as Rinoa chuckled. Quistis raised a hand to her lips to hide her laughter. "Well...If you don't like _chicken_, how 'bout...a PIG!" Selphie giggled. "Oh, but you look more like a chicken, anyway." 

"Chicken, pig, whatever..." Zell huffed. "Call me what you want!!! I don't care anymore!!!"

"Don't take it personally, Zell." Rinoa offered.

"Tch..."  
"He's always taking it personally, isn't he, Squall?" Rinoa asked. "Squall?"

She turned around. Squall was already halfway towards the next field. "Hey!" Rinoa yelled and took off after him. Selphie grinned, hoisted her supplies and began walking. Quistis laughed and she and Edea followed. That left just Zell standing there, hands on hips, glowering slightly.

"I'm not a Chicken-wuss." he hissed to himself, and followed.

* * *


End file.
